The List
by 9876grpc
Summary: Hermione makes a promise to her mother, after restoring her memories, before heading back to Hogwarts for her 8th year. What did she promise? To act like the carefree teenager she never got to be and follow through on five things. Somehow she ropes Harry into adopting the list as well and they soon find out that love is quite complicated! It should make for an interesting year!
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Harry Potter.

Hermione returned from Australia a week before school started a different girl. She had fought constantly with her parents trying to justify her decision for erasing their memories. After spending the entire summer with them, it was time for her to return and finish her last year of school. Both her parents were extremely unhappy with her decision to go back and made her promise that after this year she would attend University and spend some time with them. Harry and Ron had both spent the beginning of the trip with her but once she found her parents and returned their memories it was clear that they should return without her. They've been in communication via owl all summer and she missed them terribly.

She had had a serious conversation with her mother last night as she finished packing and this was weighing heavily on her. She couldn't believe the things her mother asked her to do. At first she thought she was joking but the more her mother talked the more she realized she was serious. Her mother wanted her to break things off with Ron. She said that she was too young to settle down and that she was worried she was going to lose herself in a relationship with such an old fashioned guy. She also said that she had missed out on her opportunity to be a carefree teenager with the war. So that's when she wrote down a list of all the things she expected Hermione to do over the course of the year and she was not to return home without them all done. Hermione groaned when she looked down at the list…

Hermione's List

Break up with Ron then do the following (not with Ron)

Date at least 6 men and 1 woman

Experiment with sex and lose virginity (safely)

Go to parties and get drunk

Relax and enjoy time with your friends

Without realizing it she found herself outside of Grimmauld Place. Shaking her head in surprise she knocked on the door tentatively, hoping Harry was home.

The door opened to reveal a slightly disheveled Harry who was beaming at her, "Hermione!" He quickly pulled her inside and wrapped her in a hug, taking a deep breath of her familiar scent, "God, I've missed you."

She smiled broadly at him and said, "I've miss you as well Harry." She then took a look around her and was speechless. The house was absolutely beautiful. It was clean and the décor had been changed so that everything was now a lighter color and fabric than before. It really opened the place up and the curtains were all open allowing the fading sunset to shine through. "Harry, it's beautiful!"

He grinned and asked, "You think?"

She smacked him lightly on the arm and said, "It's perfect. It must have taken you all summer to do this."

He nodded and said, "Well, I needed something to occupy my time without my best friend around."

She quickly pulled him in for a hug and then said, "Do you have anything to drink? I've got something I need to talk about but I won't be able to do it without a few drinks in me."

Harry looked at her curiously but nodded and she followed him upstairs to the library, where he had set up a small mini-bar. He watched as Hermione took in the room and asked, "So is it up to your standards, Miss Granger?"

She turned to look at him and there were tears in her eyes, "Harry, it's… it's amazing."

He walked over with their drinks, handed her hers then said, "Here's to our best year at Hogwarts yet," as he clinked their glasses together.

She downed the drink in one shot and coughed a little afterward, making Harry raise his eyebrows at her. She just shrugged and handed her glass back to him for a refill. She made herself comfortable on the couch and waited for him to join her.

"So not that I don't enjoy getting drunk with you, Hermione. What's this all about?"

Hermione drank her second drink in one shot again then proceeded to tell Harry how upset her parents were with her. She explained how hard the summer was and how much they didn't want her to return to Hogwarts. How they made her promise to attend University next year. Then she took out the list from her pocket and said, "This is what I needed the drinks for though. My mother made me promise to complete everything on this list before the end of the year. She said that I had missed being a carefree teenager with the war and I was too serious. So I did the only thing I could do… I agreed."

Harry was confused and he tentatively reached out for the list. After a moment Hermione released it and he read the five-item list, his eyes growing wider with each point. When he was finished he ran his hands through his hair and looked to see Hermione worrying her lip between her teeth. She was nervous and he could only remember seeing her that way a few times. He smiled at her and chuckled lightly before saying, "That's some list."

She blushed profusely and Harry realized he had never seen her do that before. Finally she found her courage and said, "So what do you think?"

"I think your Mum is brilliant. She's right you did miss being a carefree teenager. We all did," replied Harry smiling.

"But Ron…"

"Ron will have to wait. If you're really meant to be together it will work itself out. You've put both of us ahead of you for years now, Hermione. It's time you put yourself and your family first. If your Mum wants you to experience being a teenager, then why not do it."

"It's just so unlike me."

"I think that's the point, Hermione."

"I suppose."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Harry said, "Look if it makes it easier on you, I can do it with you?"

Hermione looked shocked and squeaked out, "What?"

Harry blushed and said, "That came out all wrong. I meant if you want I can make that my list for the year as well. We can both make it our plan for the year. Besides the breaking up with Ron thing."

Hermione chuckled and said, "Harry, you don't have to do that."

"I know. But I want to. I missed out being a carefree teenager as well. Maybe this is just what we need."

"I… I … would love it if you did this with me Harry," squealed Hermione wrapping her arms around Harry before pulling away and starting to write on the back of the list before pausing…

"Harry, did you get back together with Ginny?"

"No. We've barely spoken all summer. She's been staying close to home."

"Well, you may want to talk to her before you go off dating a bunch of witches," replied Hermione seriously.

"Hermione, we broke up before we left to find the Horcruxes. It's been over for a long time. Maybe it will change in the future but right now, I am unattached," replied Harry leaving no room for discussion.

"All right, if you say so but I'm still going to put it in there the same as mine," replied Hermione casually.

Harry's List:

Break up with Ginny then do the following (Not with Ginny)

Date at least 6 women and 1 man

Experiment with sex and lose virginity (safely)

Go to parties and get drunk

Relax and enjoy time with your friends

"Harry, will you help me break the news to Ron? I mean maybe it won't seem so bad if we all do this. If he knows we want to let loose for the year?"

Harry chuckled and said, "Sure, Hermione, I'll try but I don't know if he'll see it that way at first."

"I know, but I can dream," replied Hermione smirking.

Author's Note: I have no idea where this came from it just popped into my head. I was looking for a carefree 8th year story without any luck. Let me know if you want me to continue with it and if so any dates you think they should go on!


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Harry Potter.

As soon as Hermione and Harry came up with a plan, Harry flooed to the Burrow and asked Ron to come over. Hermione downed another drink while waiting for them to return. Ron immediately smiled when he saw her and engulfed her in a big hug.

"Ron, we need to talk," said Hermione pulling away from his hug and sitting down on the couch.

He nodded and sat down hesitantly, seeming surprised when Harry sat down as well.

"There's really no easy way to say this so I'm just going to come right out with it… Ron we can't be together, at least not right now."

Ron opened and closed his mouth several times looking back and forth from Hermione to Harry.

Hermione continued talking, "It's just that I promised my Mum I would do some things this year and she was just so mad at me this summer, that I agreed."

Harry piped in and said, "Actually, I was telling Hermione that I think we should all do what her Mum suggested."

"What are you two talking about," asked Ron clearly confused?

Hermione sighed and said, "My mum wants me to see other people. She wants me to be a carefree teenager."

Ron scrunched his eyebrows up in confusion and asked, "So you're breaking up with me?"

"Yes."

"But Hermione we just finally got together," whined Ron.

"I know. I do. But I promised my Mum, Ron," pleaded Hermione.

"Hermione, it's not like they're going to know. They're muggles," replied Ron simply.

Harry groaned internally and noticed Hermione narrow her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean, Ronald?"

Ron was squirming now. He knew Hermione only used his full name when he had done something wrong. "Come on Hermione, it's not like they have any idea what's happening in our world. You could just lie to them."

"Or I could just do whatever I wanted to and obliviate them," snapped Hermione angrily but Ron didn't catch the tone and immediately replied, "Yeah, that's brilliant Hermione!"

Hermione shot to her feet and stormed over to Ron, obviously scaring him as he flinched away from her.

Harry honestly felt bad for Ron. No one wanted to be at the end of an angry Hermione's wand.

"I. AM. NOT. GOING. TO. OBLIVIATE. MY. PARENTS. RONALD."

"But you just said… Wait, why not? You did it for Harry!"

"Are you serious! I did not obliviate my parents for Harry! I did it to keep them safe! So they wouldn't be murdered just for being my parents!" screamed Hermione actually stomping her foot.

Harry covered his face with his hands and groaned internally. _Could this get any worse?_

"Same thing," replied Ron petulantly.

_Yes, yes it could,_ thought Harry.

Hermione was actually speechless. She stood there for a minute opening and closing her mouth but no words would come out. Finally she turned around and took a seat on the couch again. After several minutes she seemed to have calmed down, much to Harry's surprise.

"Look, Ron, I understand this isn't ideal but I think it will be good for us to see other people this year. We're too young to be serious and I've only dated a few boys up until now. I want to enjoy being young and part of that is going on dates that end disastrously and dating those I normally wouldn't. Do you understand?"

"So you want to date other people?"

_Sweet Merlin Ron! _Thought Harry pulling his hands through his hair trying to stay out of the argument.

Hermione sighed and said, "Yes, Ron. I want to date other people. If we still want to date after we graduate then fine, but for now, I'm putting a stop to what's going on between us."

"Well, I guess that's alright. I mean I have noticed Luna's looking really nice this summer…" trailed off Ron.

_Are you kidding me?_ groaned Harry internally.

Harry saw the anger spark in Hermione's eyes again and he quickly said, "Great, then it's settled! Hermione do you want to read the list to Ron and see if he wants to do it as well, or do you want me to?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Ron before looking at Harry and replying, "You can do the honors, Harry."

"Right. Well, Ron, Hermione and I each have a list of things we have to do this year and we wanted to see if you were interested as well."

"What kind of list? It's not more reading is it," asked Ron warily?

"No Ron, it's not reading. We each have to do the following: Date at least 6 people of the opposite sex and 1 person of the same sex," started Harry before he was quickly interrupted.

"What? I'm not dating another bloke!" replied Ron scandalized.

Harry continued on, undeterred, "We also have to go to parties, get drunk, enjoy time with our friends and relax."

Ron nodded in agreement so Harry continued, "And finally we have to experiment with sex and lose our virginity."

"Safely," added Hermione quickly.

"Are you both mental," asked Ron seriously?

"Come on Ron, it will be fun," chirped Harry happily!

"Why can't you just do all of that with me," asked Ron looking at Hermione hurt?

Hermione smiled softly at him and said, "Because I promised my Mum I would date other people and experiment and just act like a teenager. It's only one year Ron."

Ron nodded then turned to Harry with mischief in his eyes and asked, "And are you not allowed to date me either?"

Harry chuckled and said, "No. I'm not allowed to date Ginny. And if you're in, then that means you're not allowed to date Hermione."

Ron ran his hands through his hair and said under his breath, "This is mental," before standing up and saying, "Alright, I'm in."

Hermione quickly pulled him into a hug then dragged Harry in as well, suffocating the both of them. When she released them she actually squealed in delight and said, "Oh, this is going to be so much fun! We have to get planning," and she grabbed a pen and paper (thankfully Harry had plenty around).

They both laughed at her and Harry asked, "Hermione isn't the whole point not to plan?"

Hermione bit her lip and looked up at him from her seat on the couch, and he was somewhat spellbound by how adorable she looked. "Oh, OK, what do you want to plan?" he finally gave in.

"Well potential people of interest, of course. Now, I definitely think you should try and go on a date with Draco, Harry."

"WHAT?" yelped Harry being joined half a second later by Ron.

"It's just so obvious that there's sexual tension between you two. I mean all you do is try and kill each other."

"That's because we hate each other!" snapped Harry stupefied.

"That may be, but I'm sure your chemistry would be amazing if you both just shut up and explored the physical aspects of a relationship," replied Hermione nonplussed.

Ron was spluttering in the background and Harry's jaw was hanging wide open. Both were completely incapable of a response, not that Hermione noticed.

"I'm not sure who would be best for Ron, honestly. Definitely not Draco, though... We'll come back to it. I was thinking maybe Ginny…"

"What?" replied Harry and Ron at the same time before Ron asked, "You want me to date my own sister?"

"Of course not! Weren't you two listening? I said I was thinking of Ginny, as in for me to go out with. Not you, you moron," replied Hermione whacking Ron on the back of the head.

Harry was shifting uncomfortably on the couch and he was looking anywhere but at Hermione. Noticing this she said, "Harry if it makes you uncomfortable I don't have to. I can ask Luna or someone else."

Harry shook his head and said, "No, it doesn't bother me, Hermione."

She looked at him curiously but didn't harass him further.

"I would say we should date someone from each house, but honestly there hasn't been a good looking Hufflepuff since Cedric," added Hermione casually making Harry nearly fall off the couch in shock, "Hermione!"

She smiled sheepishly and said, "Sorry, but it's true."

"Hermione, why don't we just see who we are interested in once we get back to school," asked Ron reasonably?

"I suppose we could do that," replied Hermione biting her bottom lip.

"Yeah, I think we should do that, Hermione," added Harry before saying, "besides this is starting to get weird. You've paired me up with Malfoy of all people and have yourself going on a date with my ex-girlfriend. There's only so much shock a bloke can take."

"Oh fine, have it your way. We'll see what happens once we get to Hogwarts," huffed Hermione sulking somewhat until Harry bent down and kissed her on the forehead saying, "That's my girl, Hermione."


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Harry Potter.

Hermione threw her bag on the floor and collapsed on her bed. It had been an excruciatingly long first week back at Hogwarts. They had made many changes; all of them sorely needed as far as Hermione was concerned.

The best perk of being in the first 8th year class ever was they were living together in apartments. The apartments were co-ed and the Slytherin's were housed with the Gryffindor's, while the Ravenclaw's were housed with the Hufflepuff's. There were two hallways leading off the common area that the house elves had assumed would hold witches on one side and wizards on the other. In fact that's how they arranged the trunks, but it didn't work that way, at least with the Lions and Snakes. They didn't trust each other at all and wanted the hallways to be based on house not gender. So they all moved their belongings around and that's how Hermione found herself in a room with Ron on her left and Harry on her right. Across from their rooms were Pavarti, Seamus, Dean, and Neville. In all, there were seven 8th year Gryffindor's and they all had their own rooms, which was absolutely brilliant! There were only six 8th year Slytherin's that returned, Draco, Blaise, Pansy, Daphne, Tracey and Theo. Hermione had no idea how they're rooms were set up and she didn't plan on venturing down there to find out! Another perk of being an 8th year was that they were free to leave the grounds on weekends, if they wanted, as they were all of age. _And really they all fought in a war so they should be able to go have a drink in Hogsmeade_!

Before Hermione realized it she was drifting off to sleep. She vaguely remembered hearing Harry and Ron but she was so tired she couldn't be sure if she was dreaming it or not.

Harry knocked on Hermione's door before entering a moment later. He wasn't worried about walking in on her, as spending a year living with someone in a tent will make you accustomed to seeing each other in various states of undress. He walked in and stopped short at the sight before him. Hermione was sprawled out on her bed, uniform still on, complete with shoes. She looked as though she collapsed and fell asleep instantly. Harry smiled and walked over to her and proceeded to remove her shoes, and then he grabbed a blanket and covered her. He brushed some hair off of her face before moving to shut the lights off, just as Ron was walking in. "Harry, we have to wake her up. It's our first Friday night to go out and have fun."

"We can wait an hour Ron. She's obviously exhausted," replied Harry pushing Ron out of the room and closing the door behind them.

After listening to Ron whine for what seemed like forever, Harry finally sent him to go ask the others if they wanted to join them for some drinks in Hogsmeade. Harry made his way to the common room and wasn't sure what to do… it was filled with Slytherin's. After a moments pause he decided to sit down and join them. All conversation stopped when he did so, "What?"

They all just stared at him in response.

"Look, the war's over. They obviously put us in the same dorms so that we could get over our issues," said Harry frustrated with everyone staring at him.

Finally Daphne spoke up and replied, "I hate to admit it, but Potter's right. You know they put us together so we could," she mimicked quotation marks then said, "bond."

There was some grunting in response which Harry would take for now.

"So Potter, what are the Golden Trio up to tonight," sneered Pansy?

Harry ignored the tone and replied, "We're actually going out and getting completely sloshed tonight."

Blaise laughed and said, "The Gryffindor Princess is going to get sloshed? I'll believe it when I see it."

Everyone except Draco nodded in agreement and Harry clenched his jaw in annoyance. Losing his temper he said, "Then I guess you'll all have to come out with us and see for yourself."

There was an increase in the laughter until they realized he wasn't kidding, "Potter, you're not serious," asked Tracey?

Harry shrugged and said, "Yeah. Why not."

When they all just stared at him dumbfounded, he sighed and got up before saying, "Look just come for one drink, then you can ditch us. If you decide to come, meet us here in two hours." Then he left the room and headed back towards his bedroom thinking, _Ron is going to kill me._

An hour later, after he'd invited Dean, Seamus, Neville and Pavarti, and broke the news that he'd invited the Slytherin's to Ron he went to wake Hermione. He left his door open slightly so there was some light shining into her room and sat down next to her on her bed. "Hermione," he said softly.

She didn't even move. Harry smiled and said it again. No response. Finally he placed his hand on her cheek and brushed it softly with his thumb and said, "Hermione, it's time to get up."

She opened her eyes and after a moment of confusion smiled at him. Then she started to stretch and Harry removed his hand. "Have a nice nap?"

"Yeah, I guess I was really tired," replied Hermione taking in the blanket and the fact that her shoes were gone and the light was off. She raised her eyebrow at him but he just shrugged. "So, not that I'm not happy to see you Harry, but why are you waking me up?"

Harry grinned and said, "It's our first Friday night back, we have to go to Hogsmeade and follow through on our promise to get drunk and have fun this year!"

Hermione laughed in response

"Is she up yet," asked Ron from Harry's doorway?

"Yes, Ron, I'm up," replied Hermione smiling.

"Good, let's go! Did Harry tell you he invited the Slytherin's," asked Ron horrified?

Hermione looked surprised for a moment then said, "No, he didn't."

Harry squirmed a little and said, "Well, we're supposed to be mending bridges and such."

Hermione smiled and replied, "You're right Harry. I'm proud of you for reaching out."

Ron made a gagging sound and whined, "Come on, can we just get going?"

Suddenly Hermione heard Seamus in Harry's room asking, "Is she up yet?"

"Yes, I'm up!" yelled Hermione getting out of bed.

"Oh good," squealed Pavarti before asking, "Do you want any help getting ready?"

Hermione looked to Harry for help but he just smiled and said, "Well, I'll leave you two to it," as he left her room, leaving her alone with Pavarti.

An hour later both girls walked out to the common room where they could hear the boys laughing and yelling. "Sounds like they've started without us," said Pavarti.

"Yes, it does. I guess we have some catching up to do," replied Hermione.

They entered the room and Hermione said, "We're finally ready to go."

Suddenly, there was complete silence. Pavarti grinned and Hermione looked around wondering what happened. Finally there was a whistle from Seamus followed by Dean who said, "You ladies look hot!"

Hermione blushed and made eye contact with Harry who looked like he had been hit by a bludger. For some reason this made her extremely happy and she grinned. Before she could make her way over to him she heard, "Damn, Granger, you clean up well," from Blaise.

Rolling her eyes she turned to him, purposely checking him out and said, "You're not so bad yourself, Zabini."

She heard spluttering in the background and knew it was Ron but she ignored it as she smiled at the Slytherin's. "So Harry tells me you're coming out for drinks with us?"

Draco nodded but looked extremely uncomfortable as did the rest of them so she took a chance and said, "Alright, well, let's start off on the right foot this year. I'm Hermione Granger," she held out her hand to Draco and finished, "and you are?"

He looked at her for a minute and she was sure he was going to reject her but surprisingly he took her hand and brought to his lips, kissing the back of it before saying, "Pleased to meet you Miss Granger, I'm Draco Malfoy."

She actually giggled when he smiled at her, then she turned and did the same with everyone else. She motioned for the rest of the Gryffindor's to do the same and after another five minutes they were all on their way.

As they were walking to Hogsmeade Harry leaned into her and whispered in her ear, "That was brilliant Hermione."

She shivered involuntarily from the close contact and said, "Thanks, I was sure he was going to walk away from me, though."

"He did look like he was fighting a battle with himself for a minute there," replied Harry.

Ron moved over to walk with them and said, "Hermione, you do look hot tonight."

She rolled her eyes and said, "You sound surprised as always, Ronald."

He flinched at the name, then whined, "Aw come on Hermione, don't be mad at me tonight! We're supposed to be having fun!"

She smiled at him, and then kissed his cheek and said, "You're right Ron. Fun it is."

He beamed at her and when Hermione turned to grin at Harry, he was scowling. He quickly covered it up and smiled back at her.

"So Mr. Potter, do you have plans to seduce anyone tonight?" asked Hermione sexily.

He looked completely shocked before shaking his head no.

"That just won't do Mr. Potter. We'll have to fix that," she replied mischievously.

Ron leaned in and whispered, "Pavarti looks hot tonight, do you mind if I go for her?"

"Actually Ron, I was thinking of going for her," replied Hermione seriously.

Both boys stopped walking with looks of complete shock on them, causing those behind them to stumble into them and Hermione laughed riotously, "I'm only kidding! You two are too easy!"

When they finally arrived at the Three Broomsticks, it was packed. They found a large table in the corner and packed themselves around it. They started drinking to alleviate the awkwardness of being in each other's company and after an hour they were all well on they're way to being sloshed. The girls had all managed to sit in one of the boys' laps without realizing it and Hermione found herself in Harry's lap. They were having a great time and Hermione decided to try and get to know the Slytherin's better.

"Alright, who wants to play a game, it's called I Never," asked Hermione?

They all indicated yes and she explained, "So each person says I Never and then they fill in the blank. If you have done what that person says then you have to drink. So for example if I say I Never kissed a girl, everyone who has kissed a girl has to drink. It's pretty simple. Got it?"

Everyone nodded so she started, "I Never kissed a girl," said Hermione then she picked up her drink and drank surprising everyone. She just smirked as the boys drank, as well as Pavarti.

Harry spoke up next, "I've never snogged someone on my broom." Harry, Draco, Blaise and Theo all drank, causing Pansy to shriek, "Draco!"

Pavarti said, "I've never been caught snogging in a broom closet." Everyone except Harry and Hermione drank.

Ron said, "I've never snuck into the Slytherin's common room." Harry and Ron both drank causing many raised eyebrows.

Draco said, "I've never dated a Gryffindor." Surprisingly Theo, Draco, and Daphne all drank in addition to the Gryffindor's.

Daphne said, "I've never had a crush on Potter." Silence descended on the table as Daphne, Tracey, Pavarti, Hermione and Theo all drank. Harry blushed profusely and raised his eyebrows at Hermione who refused to look at him.

Tracey said, "I've never had a crush on Draco." Again Hermione drank causing Ron to splutter. So did Pavarti, Pansy, Tracey, and Theo again.

Draco preened and said, "What can I say I'm good looking."

Blaise laughed and said, "I've never had a wet dream about Granger." Hermione was bright red in embarrassment and she nearly fell to the floor when Harry, Ron, Seamus, Neville, Blaise and Draco all drank. She turned and buried her head in Harry's chest as he laughed.

Tracey cleared her throat to get everyone's attention then said, "I've never been caught pleasuring myself." There was a lot of laughing as Tracey, Neville and Theo all drank.

Pansy thought for a moment and said, "I've never given a blow job." Shrieks of surprise rang out as Pansy, Daphne, Tracey, Pavarti, Hermione, and Theo all drank.

"Hermione?" gasped Ron in shock.

She just shook her head and refused to make eye contact with either Ron or Harry.

"I've never been in a threesome," said Theo smirking. Theo, Draco, Blaise and to everyone's surprise Dean and Pavarti all drank.

Seamus grinned then said, "I've never brought someone to the Room of Requirement to shag." Dean and Neville both drank sending the table into an uproar.

Neville blushed then said, "I've never thought of someone else while shagging." Everyone except Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Daphne drank.

Dean said, "I've never thought someone of the same sex was hot," followed by him drinking. Everyone except Ron and Pansy drank.

"Did we all go," asked Hermione?

"Yeah, I think we did," replied Harry then he added, "That was actually fun."

There was definite agreement amongst the group and Hermione said, "We'll have to think up some new ones and do it again next weekend."

"I'll drink to that," replied Seamus holding his drink out and everyone joined in.

They spent the rest of the night chatting, laughing, drinking and of course flirting.

At one point Harry had tugged Hermione around so that she was straddling him. They were laughing and Hermione was running her hands through his hair.

"Granger, I thought you were with Weasley," asked Blaise?

Hermione turned so that she could see the others, as her back was towards them, "No, not anymore," replied Hermione. She moved again to see Ron occupied with Pavarti and heard Harry groan. She looked down at him curiously and he said, "Please stop squirming so much."

She did it again just to tease him and realized he was quite excited. She grinned mischievously at him and whispered in his ear, "Why Mr. Potter, you seem quite happy to see me."

"Minx," replied Harry breathlessly, before nibbling on her ear.

"Oi, you two, get a room!" laughed Seamus.

"Gladly," replied Harry grinning.

Hermione smacked his arm and got off his lap and said, "Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny. I'm going to the loo."

Of course all the girls went together.

"Potter, what's up with you and Granger," asked Draco?

Harry could feel Ron boring a hole into the side of his head. He tried to play it off as nothing, shrugging his shoulders and said, "Nothing. We're just friends having fun flirting with each other."

He saw Ron visibly relax but meanwhile inside Harry was freaking out. He couldn't believe how turned on Hermione was making him and he was serious when he said he would gladly get a room with her.

_How did he never realize how sexy she was?_


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Harry Potter.

"So neither of you are dating Granger," asked Draco with his eyebrows raised.

Both Harry and Ron shook their heads no and there was a litany of responses…

"Sweet," replied Dean grinning

"I'm going to take a shot at her," replied Seamus

"Hold your Lions their Gryffindor's, I think she needs to spend some time with a handsome Slytherin," said Blaise.

Draco laughed and said, "You're right but I'm the only handsome Slytherin here."

"I thought you were with Pansy," asked Neville?

Draco grinned and said, "I'm with whoever ends up in my bed."

Ron and Harry both slammed their drinks down and looked ready to beat Draco to a pulp but Neville was the one to reply first, "Hermione's not like that, Malfoy. You can try all you want but you're not going to get her into your bed."

Draco raised his eyebrows and said, "You sound like you know this from experience Longbottom. I thought Granger was only with Krum and McClaggen?"

Neville shrugged and replied, "Think what you want Malfoy, but she's not going to shag you." He then got up and walked over to the bar to get another drink, leaving everyone in shock at the table.

"Did he just say that he was with Hermione," asked Ron when he had finally recovered from the shock?

Harry was staring off at Neville but he heard Seamus respond, "It certainly sounded like he was with her."

"How is it that Longbottom is the one that been with the hottest witches in Hogwarts? First Ginny, then Hannah, now Hermione…. What the hell is he doing," asked Dean dumbfounded?

"Watch it," growled Ron.

"Your sister is quite shaggable, Weasley," replied Blaise before asking, "Doesn't it bother you that half your friends have dated her? First Longbottom, then Thomas, and then Potter. What happened with you two, anyway Potter, you were all hot and heavy before…."

Harry was clenching his fists in anger; he still found it unsettling to hear about all the guys Ginny dated. He shrugged before replying, "A war happened, we grew apart. Nothing more to say."

"She's another that could do with some Slytherin love," replied Draco.

"Malfoy, if you so much as breathe near my sister, I'll…" started Ron before Draco cut him off, "You'll what Weasley? Everyone knows, you're sister is far scarier than all the Weasley men combined. I'll ask her out and she can say no if she wants to, although, I doubt she will," smirked Draco.

"So you're going to date my sister and my girlfriend," asked Ron annoyed?

Draco raised his eyebrows; "I thought you said you weren't seeing Granger anymore?"

Ron huffed and said, "I'm not."

Draco laughed and said, "Right. Well I suppose I could try and talk both witches into sharing my bed with me."

There was a lot of groaning as the guys all pictured Ginny and Hermione in bed together, even Harry had to close his eyes for a moment. Ron, causing everyone to laugh, quickly punched him in the shoulder.

"Where are they anyway, they've been gone for quite a while," asked Theo looking around? They all joined in and found that the ladies were all occupied with several wizards each, causing them all to frown. They all silently decided to get up and go retrieve their witches…

Ron looked like he was struggling to decide which witch to go to, finally veering towards Pavarti, which was good because Harry was headed for Hermione regardless of where Ron went. When he approached her she had three wizards surrounding her. Harry vaguely recognized them but didn't both waiting to be introduced. He simply wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her into him, kissing her neck possessively before turning to smile at the wizards.

Hermione was taken aback by Harry's possessiveness and looked at him curiously for a minute before clearing her throat and saying, "Harry, you remember Oliver Wood and Lee Jordan don't you?"

Harry blinked in surprise and smiled at them, holding out his hand, "Good to see you guys."

"And this is Jason, he plays Quidditch on Oliver's team," Hermione motioned towards the third bloke.

Harry nodded and shook his hand. He listened as all three talked about Quidditch and the war, nodding when he was supposed to but all he could really think about was how soft Hermione's skin was. He had inadvertently put his hand under her shirt and was rubbing the skin above her hip lightly with his thumb. He could feel Hermione shiver and lean into him every once in a while and he took a chance and met her eyes, unsure what he would see.

Bloody Hell. He was hard as a rock. She was looking at him with pure unadulterated desire. Her lips were partly open and she licked them while he was watching. Before Harry could stop himself, he took his free hand and wrapped it in her hair, pulling her into him, kissing her passionately.

He heard the three wizards near him grumble in disappointment but all he was focused on was how fucking amazing she felt in his arms. He pulled her closer and continued to kiss her, devouring her. He heard her moan and moved the hand that was under her shirt to her ass, forgetting where they were until he heard a lot of whistling and yelling. Hermione pushed against his chest and he looked at her confused but he saw that she was beat red from embarrassment and noticed that everyone was watching them. He blushed and mouthed, "Sorry" to her, but she just shook her head and smiled.

"Just friends my ass, Potter," said Blaise smacking him on the back.

Harry chuckled and looked around, he found Ron staring at him questioningly. They kept eye contact for a minute before Ron looked away at something Pavarti said. Harry knew he was going to have to talk to Ron at some point but right now wasn't the time. He turned to see Neville talking to Hermione and felt his jealousy flare for a moment before he brushed it aside. "I'll be right back, I need the loo," he said to both of them.

As he made his way to the loo, he was inundated with people wanting to shake his hand. He finally made it through and was able to go to the bathroom in peace. He opened the door to leave the loo and was met by Daphne.

"Potter."

"Greengrass," replied Harry.

"Are you and Granger an item?"

"What? No. We're just friends," replied Harry confused by the question.

She raised her eyebrows and came closer to him, "Really? That was some kiss…so you're just fuck buddies?"

Harry backed up against the door to the loo and stuttered, "NO! We're not … like that."

She closed the space between them and brought her face close to his and said, "So if I kissed you right now, she wouldn't mind?"

Harry opened and closed his mouth, unable to respond and Daphne smiled at him before whispering in his ear, "I can wait until you get Granger out of your system. But don't make me wait long, Potter, I'm not a very patient witch." She then pulled his earlobe in her mouth before leaving a trail of kisses down his neck, making him groan. She pulled away and smiled brilliantly at him before walking away.

Harry closed his eyes and banged his head against the door, "Fuck."

"Hey Potter!"

Harry opened his eyes and looked to see Draco calling him, "What?"

"We're leaving, come on," replied Draco.

Harry nodded and moved away from the bathroom door in search of Hermione. She was at the door with everyone else and they quickly made their way outside. Once confirming that everyone was present they headed back to Hogwarts. Ron avoided him, opting to spend the entire walk back with Pavarti. This suited him fine as Hermione was practically attached to him the whole walk. At some point, she decided that she couldn't walk anymore and proceeded to make Harry carry her piggyback style the rest of the way. They were one of the last ones back and there were only guys left in the common room. Ron was nowhere in sight and Harry figured he must have already gone to bed. He put Hermione back on her feet and she kissed his cheek whispering, "Good night Harry," in his ear before saying, "Night," to the others as she left to go to her room.

Harry watched her leave then sighed heavily and sat down on the couch making the remaining guys laugh at him. "What?"

Neville smiled and said, "You finally see what the rest of us have seen all along. She's quite beautiful."

Harry frowned and replied, "That's not true, I've always known she was beautiful!"

Dean laughed and said, "Yeah but more like how Ron knows Ginny's beautiful, not in the way the rest of us blokes see her."

"I don't understand," replied Harry confused.

"Potter, when you were with Granger tonight, did you think she's beautiful, or did you think, Fuck I want to shag her," asked Draco?

Harry flipped him the bird then smirked and said, "The second one."

They all laughed and Blaise said, "I don't think there was a bloke in that place tonight that didn't want to shag Granger."

"What the hell was Weasley thinking letting her go," asked Theo?

"He didn't really have a choice. Hermione promised her Mum she would date and enjoy herself this year," replied Harry.

"Seriously? Her Mum made her break up with Weasley," asked Draco with mirth in his eyes?

"Shut up Malfoy. We all decided to follow her Mum's advice and date around and enjoy ourselves this year," replied Harry sternly.

Draco held up his hands in surrender then said, "So what are you doing here with us, when there's a gorgeous witch waiting for you?"

Harry raised his eyebrows at Draco in confusion but Blaise answered him, "Potter, she's probably waiting for you to go to her. It's what all the witches do."

Harry scoffed but Dean said, "It's true Harry. She's probably waiting for you. You should go so you don't piss her off."

Harry looked somewhat pale and Neville patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry so much, Harry. Just follow her lead."

Harry smiled and got up saying, "Thanks," before heading to his room. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it closing his eyes for a minute before having a one sided conversation with himself, "Fuck." "It's just Hermione, pull yourself together." "You can do this Potter."

"I certainly hope so," said Hermione making him jump in surprise.

He was frozen in place. Hermione was kneeling on his bed, wearing his Quidditch jersey, and from what he could see in the dark, she was wearing only his jersey. He swallowed and stepped towards her until he was standing in front of her at the end of the bed.

She smiled at him mischievously and said, "I was beginning to think you were going to stand me up, Mr. Potter."

"I didn't realize you were waiting for me, Miss Granger," replied Harry reaching out to push her hair behind her shoulder, exposing it completely since the shirt was hanging off her. "This shirt looks much better on you."

She blushed at him and reached for him by his belt, pulling him closer.

"Hermione," he breathed.

"Harry," she replied just before leaning up to kiss him. The kiss grew passionate quickly and suddenly Harry pulled away making her whine.

He was breathing heavily but he managed to get out, "Hermione, what are we doing? You're my best friend."

Hermione actually rolled her eyes and said, "Seriously Harry? You want to talk about this NOW?"

He grimaced at her tone and tried to smooth things over, "I'm sorry, I just don't want to do anything to jeopardize us. You're my best friend, Hermione."

She smiled again, making him sigh in relief, "I know that Harry. And you're my best friend too. Nothing that happens tonight is going to change that, Harry. Nothing. We've been through so much together, do you really think that anything we do tonight can change what we are?"

Harry smiled and shook his head no

"Good, now get your ass over here Potter so I can have my way with you," ordered Hermione pulling him by his belt again.

He gasped in surprise when she began removing his belt. He met her eyes as she slowly unbuttoned then unzipped his jeans. She pushed them down his legs and he stepped out of them never losing eye contact with her. She smiled shyly at him then started to unbutton his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders when she was done. She then grabbed the bottom of his undershirt and slowly dragged it up his body, catching her nails on his sensitive skin as she did so. He took a deep breath at the sensation then she pulled it over his head and threw it across the room, making him raise his eyebrows at her. She smiled again then proceeded to run her hands up and down his chest, running her fingers through his chest hair, making him groan. He closed his eyes from the sensation then suddenly felt her kissing his chest and his eyes shot open again. He moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her as she started sucking on his nipples and running her nails down his abdomen.

"Ughh…"

She laughed and said, "What's that Mr. Potter, I couldn't understand you?" Then she brought her hand over Harry's boxers and ran it over his erection.

He actually held his breath as he looked down at her. She met his eyes and smiled as she put her hands on either side of his hips and started pushing his shorts down his legs, freeing him. He stepped out of his boxers but didn't move closer to her. He was letting her decide how far they would go. She lowered her eyes to his erection and he watched her tentatively reach out to touch it. She ran her finger up and down it making Harry close his eyes in pleasure. Then she ran her finger in circles on the head and he felt her spreading out some of his pre-cum. Then she wrapped him in her hand and began slowly moving up and down, making him reach out to steady himself. He placed one of his hands on her shoulder but she didn't seem to mind. After a few minutes she stopped and it was all he could do not to whine.

Harry opened his eyes to look at her and she was backing up on the bed beckoning him to follow her. He hesitated, not sure what might happen if he followed and she decided to give him some more incentive. So she pulled herself up on her knees and grabbed the bottom of her jersey and slowly brought it up over her head, tossing it to the side. Harry gasped as he saw how beautiful she was. She was naked except for a tiny pair of black underwear. She was breathtaking and he climbed on the bed and practically tackled her, kissing her so passionately that he thought he would lose his mind from the pleasure.

He decided to turn the tables and focus on her for a while. He explored her body with his mouth at an excruciatingly slow pace, making her writhe under him. She was making these adorable noises that he'd never heard from her before. He vowed to make sure he heard them again, not dwelling on what that really meant. He kissed and nipped at her nipples, finding it curious that she screamed in pleasure when he nipped at them. Then he moved to her belly button and found that she was extremely ticklish and that if he were too light in his touch she would giggle, so he used a firmer touch and she seemed to really enjoy that. Then he kissed and licked all along her underwear making her moan and beg, "Please Harry," over and over again.

"Please what, Miss Granger," he asked sexily?

"Please touch me," she said breathlessly.

"I am touching you Miss Granger," he replied cheekily.

She made a sound that was part whine and part groan and Harry found it went straight to his libido, making him growl in response.

He quickly tugged her underwear down and kissed his way back up her legs, spreading them wide as he went. He stopped and waited for her to look at him before he continued. She pulled herself up on her elbows and made eye contact with him. They looked at each other for a long moment, conveying the depth of their emotions for each other. Suddenly Hermione reached out her hand and ran it through his hair, causing him to close his eyes from the familiar comforting touch. He knew with that touch that whatever happened between them, they would always be the same Harry and Hermione. He smiled at her before he began exploring her with his tongue. She moaned loudly and fell back but didn't take her hand out of his hair. She tasted amazing to him and he found that he was getting a lot of enjoyment out of pleasuring her. He felt her legs move and rest on his back, which he quite liked. She was getting much louder now and Harry smirked knowing he was the cause of it. Suddenly he felt her spasm and she sat up breathing heavily. He smiled up at her and she quickly pulled him up and on top of her, kissing him hungrily for several minutes before pulling away.

Her chest was heaving from breathing so fast and he ran his hands into her hair to pull her towards him, meeting her satisfied gaze.

"You OK," he asked?

She smiled and said, "Fucking Brilliant."

He chuckled and kissed her lightly before lying back down pulling her to his chest. She began drawing with her fingers on his chest and he closed his eyes at the sensation. It felt so good he almost forgot about his raging hard on. Almost.

Suddenly he felt Hermione move and he picked his head up to look for her. She was kneeling next to him with a look of concentration. Curious he watched her until he figured out what she was going to do…

She pushed her hair behind her ears as much as she could before she wrapped him in her hands and gently lowered her mouth onto him. He was torn between lying back and enjoying what she was doing and watching her do it. There was something extremely erotic about watching your best friend give you a blowjob. After a minute he gave in and lay back, closing his eyes and enjoying the sensations. She was really quite good at this, Harry thought curiously. Every once in a while she would do something that made his eyes roll into the back of his head and before he knew it he was writhing and moaning under her ministrations.

"Her…Mione…" he moaned trying to get her attention but she just kept going, so he reached out to touch her head but the urge was so great that he ended up fisting his hand in her hair. "I'm going to come…" he finally moaned but she didn't stop, instead she turned to look at him, making eye contact. That was the last straw for him and he exploded in her mouth… he was completely shocked when she swallowed.

"Fuck," moaned Harry.

Hermione cleaned them both up with a summoned towel and crawled up into his arms.

"Bloody hell Hermione, that was fucking amazing," said Harry.

She beamed at him and said, "It was my pleasure, Mr. Potter."

He smacked her ass, making her yelp, and asked, "What's with calling me Mr. Potter?"

She bit her lip and replied, "I don't know. It helps me separate this side of you from the side of you that's my best friend. I don't have to if it bothers you." She was looking away from him and he thought she looked adorable in this nervous state.

"I love it Miss Granger," he replied before smacking her ass again, chuckling when she yelped.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Harry Potter.

Hermione woke to a feeling of complete contentment. She was wrapped in Harry's embrace, with his arms holding her close to him and one of his legs strewn over hers. She snuggled further into him and threaded her fingers with his, smiling subconsciously. She spent quite a while in a semi-conscious state enjoying the feel of being in Harry's arms. The more awake she became the more her mind started to race…

_How was she ever going to walk away from this? What was she thinking? She should have known that her feelings would only increase by getting even closer with Harry. She already loved him and relied on him as her best friend, what made her think that her love wouldn't grow when she became intimate with him? _

She rolled over and faced Harry; he frowned in his sleep for a moment before relaxing again. _Merlin help her, he was absolutely perfect._ She took her hand and ran it through his hair, brushing some off his forehead before rubbing her thumb across his cheek. He stirred and opened his eyes. They gazed at each other for a minute before he smiled and said groggily, "Morning."

"Morning," she replied quietly.

Harry reached up with his hand and grabbed her hand that was still rubbing his cheek. He brought it to his lips and kissed it softly. "What are you thinking about?"

"You," Hermione replied simply.

Harry smiled and asked, "What about me?"

"Harry," whined Hermione blushing profusely.

"What? I'm curious," replied Harry before pulling her closer and kissing her neck.

"It's silly."

"So, I want to know."

Hermione sighed dramatically and buried her face in the crook of his neck before mumbling, "You're perfect."

He chuckled and pulled her back, away from his neck and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Granger, you're going to have to repeat that since I couldn't hear what you said through my neck."

She blushed and blurted out, "I said you were perfect."

Harry widened his eyes in surprise before smiling and saying, "No, I'm not, but I'm glad you think so Miss Granger."

Hermione pushed him on his back and climbed on top of him, holding his hands above his head and said; "Now you listen here Mr. Potter. You yourself have told me time and time again how brilliant I am, haven't you?"

Harry's eyes sparkled with mirth as he said, "Yes, I have Miss Granger."

"So that means that I know what I'm talking about. And if I say you're perfect, then you must be perfect," replied Hermione pretentiously.

Harry laughed heartily before trying to free his hands, however Hermione refused to let them go. He quirked his eyebrows at her before lifting his upper body up to kiss her. As the kiss became more intense Harry used the distraction to free his hands and flip them so Hermione was underneath him.

She laughed and said, "What's the matter Mr. Potter, do you not like to be dominated?"

Harry was stunned speechless by her response, making Hermione laugh even more.

He finally chuckled and said, "Why Miss Granger I didn't realize you were such a kinky witch."

"Oh, there's a lot you don't know about me, Mr. Potter. Maybe, if you're good, I'll tutor you," replied Hermione sexily.

"Minx," replied Harry groaning as she slipped out from under him and got out of bed. "Where are you going?"

"I'm hungry and I need a shower," replied Hermione pulling Harry's Quidditch jersey off the floor and over her head.

Harry pouted as he sat up in bed watching her, causing her to ruffle his hair and kiss him chastely before heading towards her room and bathroom. "I'll be quick, I promise. Then we can go get some breakfast."

Harry picked up a pillow and tossed it across the room towards her in mock anger. She just laughed as she closed the door behind her. He flopped back dramatically on the bed sighing in frustration. He stayed like this for a few minutes as his mind caught up with everything that had happened in the last 24 hours.

_This time yesterday Hermione was just his best friend, but now she was so much more. He couldn't deny how much she turned him on, especially when she did something he wasn't expecting. But what did this mean for them? Could he walk away from her now, knowing her so intimately? He wouldn't ask, but he was pretty certain her and Ron hadn't done anything other than kiss…so why was she so comfortable with him? How was he supposed to date anyone else when she was bloody perfect?_

Huffing in annoyance he got up and went to take a shower, hoping the hot water would clear his mind a little bit. The rest of the day went by just like usual, with Hermione dragging him to the library to study. If he didn't know any better, he would say nothing had changed. However, the extended snogging session in the Restricted Section was a nice addition. After dinner they settled on one of the couches in the common room and Harry wrapped his arms around her as she leaned against his chest. They talked the night away with their housemates and just generally had a good time. Ron was obviously avoiding them, as they hadn't seen him all day. As they made their way to their bedrooms, they both stopped halfway between their rooms, not knowing what to do.

Harry smiled shyly and pulled Hermione in for a passionate kiss, then whispered, "Good night, Hermione."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him and asked, "Where do you think you're going Mr. Potter, I'm not quite finished with you yet."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, you've been a naughty boy, and you need to be punished," replied Hermione pulling him into her room, slamming the door with her foot prior to tackling Harry to her bed.

Harry was surprised by how aggressive she was and barely had time to recover before Hermione was on top of him, pulling up his shirt so she could scatter kisses across his chest. He groaned and involuntarily bucked his hips in response, which made Hermione giggle.

She started removing his clothes and within minutes they were both in their underwear. Harry smirked and said, "I have to admit I love seeing this side of you."

Hermione giggled again, and he realized up until yesterday, he had never thought of her as a girly girl. But now that he had seen this side of her, he couldn't imagine going back. He proceeded to attack her body with kisses and even left several bite marks on her, finding that he just couldn't control himself. She seemed to enjoy the bites as she released a deep moan every time he left one.

Harry pulled himself up so that he was leaning over her and just took in her beauty. Hermione squirmed under his gaze so he met her eyes and she gasped at the emotions they portrayed.

"Hermione," started Harry quietly

"Harry, don't,"

"No, please just let me finish," begged Harry putting his finger to her lips.

She nodded in agreement and he continued, "Hermione, I can't go back. I can't go back to being just friends with you. I mean how could I, you're everything I could every ask for." He was brushing his finger across her lips slowly and Hermione grabbed his hand and kissed his palm tenderly.

"Harry, what are you saying," she asked warily?

"I don't know. I just know that I don't want to walk away from this, from us. I know you'll always be my best friend, but the thought of not seeing this side of you is too much. I already love you, but we could be so much more…together."

"Harry…"

"I know it's not my place to ask, and you don't have to answer me, but did you feel this way with Ron, because I didn't feel this with Ginny."

Hermione gasped and tears started to build up in her eyes. She swallowed the lump in her throat and replied, "Oh Harry. It's only been 24 hours since we crossed that invisible line, but Merlin help me I don't want to go back either. I've never felt this way before, not with anyone. It's so intense, that I keep wondering if it's really happening. I mean, I was with Viktor for a while, then I dated a few others, and Ron and I were barely together, so there's no comparison. But I felt nothing compared to what I feel now."

Harry grinned and moved in to kiss her but she put her hand against his chest and stopped him. He frowned at her in confusion.

"But Harry what are we going to do? I promised my Mum. I understand now why she wanted me to date others. She didn't want me to settle, she wanted me to find my true love. She wanted me to experience the thrill of falling in love, the excitement of dating, and the fun of experimenting. And you said you wanted to experience those same things?"

"I did Hermione, but now I just want you," replied Harry frustrated, as he lay down beside her.

Hermione turned on her side so she was facing him and replied, "I want you too Harry, please don't doubt that."

Harry smiled slightly then said, "But…"

"But, we have to follow through on our plan."

"So you want to date other people still," asked Harry unable to hide the hurt?

"No, Harry, **we** need to date other people. Six more to be exact."

"Hermione…" started Harry before he was cut off, "Just listen to me Harry. We can do it however you want. We can do one date a month for the next six months, or we can do one date a week for the next six weeks, or just see how it goes. I mean, who knows, maybe you'll fall in love with Pansy and never want to be with me again."

Harry scrunched up his face and said, "Not funny, Hermione."

She laughed in response.

"But that means you'll be kissing other blokes and they'll be seeing you like this. I don't want to share you Hermione," whined Harry.

Hermione bit her lip and said, "I don't want to share you either, Harry. You'll be dating other witches, who will most likely be begging to shag you."

Harry looked surprised by her statement and he could see how insecure she was about that scenario. He put his finger under her chin and raised it so he could meet her eyes, "Hermione, you have nothing to worry about."

She didn't seem convinced so Harry said, "Alright, if we do this, how about we have one rule… no shagging."

Hermione smiled brightly and asked, "Really?"

"Yes, really."

Hermione pounced on him and began to show him how much she liked that idea. He chuckled at how obviously pleased she was. She was sucking on his earlobe when she suddenly stopped and asked, "But what if you fall in love with someone else and change your mind and want to shag them instead of me?"

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "It's not going to happen, love."

Hermione's heart fluttered at the term of endearment and she couldn't remember what they were talking about for a minute.

Harry grew concerned at her lack of response, "Hermione?"

She smiled shyly at him and said, "Sorry. You distracted me by calling me that."

He grinned and pulled her closer, and then he whispered huskily, "Do you like it when I call you Love, Miss Granger?"

She whimpered quietly and he felt her body move even closer to his. She was practically panting in his arms, begging to be touched.

"Are we done talking, love," he asked teasingly?

She growled in response, then pushed him onto his back, and climbed on top, holding his arms down again.

He laughed and said, "You seem to like this position, Miss Granger."

She was tired of talking so she simply kissed him in response. Passionately.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Harry Potter.

Ron had been avoiding both Harry and Hermione, he knew it was wrong but he just didn't want to fly off the handle like he always did. He was still trying to work out how he felt about them but he felt like he could be around them again. He actually missed their presence yesterday. He figured he would go grab them and head to breakfast. He knocked on Hermione's door but entered quickly because that's what he'd always done, "Hermione, do you want to…"

He stopped in his tracks, completely dumbfounded by what he found. Hermione was clearly naked in bed with Harry, who was blearily wiping his face having just been woken up by Ron. Hermione was still fast asleep and Harry pulled the blanket over her and started to try and talk, "Ron,"

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS," bellowed Ron jolting Hermione awake in surprise.

Harry reached down to pull his boxers up off the floor, then quickly put them on standing up. "Ron," he said more commandingly this time.

"Shit," groaned Hermione in the background.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HARRY?"

"Ron, stop yelling, you're going to wake the entire house," snapped Harry annoyed.

"I DON'T BLOODY FUCKING CARE!"

Harry was right, as half the house was in the hallway, trying to figure out what all the yelling was about.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU'RE FUCKING SISTER, MY ASS POTTER!"

"Ron, please stop yelling and what's he talking about Harry," asked Hermione?

Ron laughed maniacally and stormed to the door, throwing it open as he yelled, "HOW FUCKING STUPID AM I FOR BELIEVING YOU!"

Harry followed him leaving Hermione stumbling around looking for a shirt; she grabbed Harry's and threw it on. It covered enough of her for the time being. She quickly ran after them and found the whole house watching them fight.

"I didn't lie to you Ron," replied Harry.

Ron turned and punched Harry in the face, causing many shrieks of surprise then asked, "I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG! HOW LONG HAVE YOU TWO BEEN FUCKING?"

Harry wiped the blood from his lip and glared at Ron, then remained still with barely contained fury.

"Ron stop it," begged Hermione once again standing between the two of them.

He turned his rage on Hermione then and said, "And you! You told me it was nothing. That it wasn't what it seemed! And I spent all that time thinking I was an asshole. You're fucking liars both of you!"

Hermione slapped him hard across the face furious, "How. Dare. You. You fucking left us! In the middle of a fucking war, you left us! How dare you judge us? We almost fucking died Ron! And all you care about is whether Harry and I were fucking?" Hermione's voice was very high and she was absolutely livid.

Ron gulped realizing he had never seen Hermione so angry but he held his ground, "I told you it was the Bloody Horcrux!"

There were several gasps and questions from their audience, as they never told anyone about the Horcruxes.

"Bullshit! Harry wore that thing more than either of us and he didn't leave!"

"I'm sorry I'm not bloody perfect like Harry!"

"I'm not perfect," snapped Harry annoyed!

"SHUT UP!" yelled Hermione and Ron at the same time, making Harry fume.

Everyone, especially the Slytherin's, were in shock witnessing the Golden Trio fighting like this.

"What do you want me to do Ron, FORGET how you deserted us? FORGET what it was like to beg you to stay, for you to just disapparate away? FORGET that you were gone for WEEKS! That Harry didn't nearly DIE from Nagini? That Voldemort didn't nearly capture us? I wish I could FORGET a lot of things! I wish I could FORGET that I DESTROYED HARRY'S WAND making him want to nearly kill me? I WISH I could FORGET that I was sick with worry wondering if you were alive! I WISH I could FORGET that I was sick with worry that Harry was going to snap! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA THE HELL WE WENT THROUGH! THE HELL I WENT THROUGH!"

There were gasps at this revelation as well…

"ARE YOU ALWAYS GOING TO THROW THAT IN MY FACE? THAT I'M NOT GOOD ENOUGH? THAT I'M NOT FUCKING PERFECT, THAT I CAVED UNDER THE PRESSURE? WE WERE FUCKING LIVING IN A TENT FOR MONTHS, WITH NO FOOD, NO HEAT, NO COMMUNICATION, NOTHING! AND WE HAD NO FUCKING CLUE WHERE TO FIND ANY OF THE BLOODY HORCRUXES! FUCKING EXCUSE ME FOR HAVING A MOMENT OF PANIC!"

There was a fair amount of chatter in the background now but Harry didn't have time to care, as he was getting concerned. At this point, he put himself in between them; worried that Ron was going to hurt Hermione.

Hermione tried to push Harry out of the way but he wouldn't budge so she yelled over his shoulder, "Oh poor Ron! That's all I ever hear is how hard it was for you! I fucking obliviated my goddamn parents! You didn't see me panic! That fucking snatcher was going to RAPE ME if they didn't recognize Harry! I was FUCKING TORTURED BY A MANAIC!"

Ron took a step back at the reminder of Hermione's torture. He looked at her bare forearm where the scar was still so clear. Nothing any of the healers did could remove it. Noticing this she crossed her arms to hide the scar and took several steps back. Harry sighed in relief and felt it was safe to move aside. "Ron, nothing happened between Hermione and I during the war. What I told you was the truth at the time. I didn't see her differently until she got back from Australia."

Ron clenched his jaw and sneered, "So, this whole list was a cover up so you two could fuck?"

Before he knew what was coming, Harry throttled him. They fell to the floor, each throwing punches at the other. Hermione shrieked and turned to find her wand. Realizing it was back in her room, she grabbed someone else's from their hand and screamed, "PROTEGO!"

The two were instantly thrown away from each other and there was a shield in between them.

"This again," sneered Ron, wiping the blood off his face.

"You listen to me Ronald Weasley and listen good because I am never going to discuss this again. Not that it's any of your business, but I have never fucked Harry, nor am I now. You have no right to say anything to me!"

Ron tried to say something but she glared at him stopping him in his tracks and Harry smirked triumphantly.

Hermione turned her glare on Harry and Ron smirked triumphantly. "Now, I don't know what the both of you talked about during the war that involved me, but I'm not happy with the implications! I am not property. My dating life is not for either of you to decide! I am not either of your girlfriends and I do not owe either of you any explanations!"

She cancelled the Protego, held the wand out for someone to take and started to go to her room. She stopped for a moment, turned back and said, "Don't even try and talk to me today because quite frankly I don't feel like seeing either of you." Then she walked the rest of the way to her room and slammed the door, leaving a stunned Harry and Ron behind.

Their audience took pity on them and went back into their rooms without asking questions. Harry and Ron looked at each other for several minutes before Ron said, "Git."

Harry rolled his eyes and replied, "Prat." Then he asked, "How long do you think she'll stay mad at us?"

"She won't stay mad at me nearly as long as she's going to stay mad at you," replied Ron amused.

"What? Why do you say that?"

Ron shrugged and said, "Because she's used to me doing stupid shit. But you… she expects better from you."

"Great," mumbled Harry.

"Hey, I'm sorry… you know… about hitting you," said Ron quickly.

Harry shrugged and said, "Yeah, me too."

Ron nodded in response and then he said, "I'm starving. Do you want to go get some breakfast?"

Harry nodded and said, "Yeah, just let me get dressed."

They both stayed out of Hermione's way as she asked. However, she was frosty towards the both of them for pretty much the whole week and Harry was getting nervous. _What if she hated him now? What if she didn't want to be with him anymore? _Finally on Friday night Harry couldn't take it anymore and he knocked on her door...

Hermione opened her door and his jaw hit the floor. She looked amazing. She had on tight jeans and a tight black sweater that showed off a little of her belly. She also had on tall black boots. Her smile faded as soon as she realized it was him. She crossed her arms and said, "What Harry?"

He quirked his eyebrows at her and said, "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes. What do you want?"

Annoyed he stormed into her room, hearing her huff in annoyance behind him. She turned to face him and said, "Harry, I have plans. What do you want?"

"I want to know when you're going to stop being a bitch to me," yelled Harry!

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and said, "I'll stop being a bitch to you when I'm no longer pissed at you."

"What exactly have I done to piss you off Hermione," asked Harry angrily?

She rolled her eyes at him and snapped, "You and Ron discussed which one of you was going to have me! As if I'm some sort of fucking dessert!"

"No we didn't," yelled Harry frustrated!

They were gaining an audience yet again because Hermione left her door open. Merlin was it possible for him to have any privacy!

Hermione narrowed her eyes further and Harry wondered how she could see. She was clearly furious and he gulped waiting for her attack. "No? So Ron didn't ask you what your intentions were? So you didn't tell Ron that you saw me as a sister? Hence, giving Ron your approval to have me?"

Harry looked down unable to deny any of that. "But it wasn't like that Hermione," whined Harry before continuing at her glare, "I mean, yes, all of that technically happened but it sounds so much worse than it really was. It's not like we were doing rock paper scissors!"

"Get out."

"I'm sorry. That came out wrong. I just wasn't interested in you then, Hermione," stumbled Harry putting his foot in his mouth again.

"GET OUT!"

Sighing in defeat and wanting to leave without doing further damage Harry walked towards the door. He stopped just as he reached the hallway and turned back to her, "Does this mean you don't want to spend the night with me?"

Hermione's response was to slam the door in his face.

"Smooth Potter."

"Shut up Malfoy."


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Harry Potter.

Hermione left her room and headed through the common room on her way out. Of course it was filled and she was unable to slip out undetected. There were a few catcalls and Ron asked, "Where are you off to Hermione?"

Hermione huffed and said, "Out."

Ron snorted and said, "Wow, that's really helpful. Is Harry going with you?"

"No, he's not," snapped Hermione.

"Still mad at him then?"

"I'm still mad at you too!"

"Come on Hermione. You're usually the reasonable one out of the three of us but you're making this a bigger deal than it needs to be. We had a moment after I destroyed the Horcrux…Harry was just trying to make me feel better because of what the Horcrux said. It was the two of you and it was saying all these horrible things to me… Just give Harry a break, you know he would never do anything to hurt you."

Hermione bit her lip in thought then said, "Alright, I'll think about it tonight. But I've got to go, they'll be waiting for me."

Just then the common room door opened and Hannah, Susan, and Tracey came through. Hannah said, "Hermione, come on, we're going to be late!"

She smiled and said, "Sorry, I'm coming. I'll talk to you later Ron."

"Hey, you never told me where you were going!"

"Dancing!"

Ron wrinkled his nose in disgust and turned around to see Harry sitting on the couch sulking. He patted him on the shoulder and said, "Cheer up mate. I talked to her for you, I bet she'll be fine when she gets back."

Harry nodded and said, "Thanks Ron."

"So, what should we do tonight?"

"I could go for some Firewhisky," replied Harry sighing.

"Sounds good to me. Let's head to Hogsmeade, maybe we can find a cute witch to take your mind off of Hermione," replied Ron. He then asked the room loudly, "Anyone up for Firewhisky in Hogsmeade to cheer up Harry?"

"Ron," growled Harry.

There was a fair amount of laughing but surprisingly the majority of them agreed to go.

"So, Potter, have you gotten Granger out of your system yet," asked Daphne just as they reached Hogsmeade?

Harry rolled his eyes but didn't respond

"Touchy touchy. I had no idea you were such a softie," replied Daphne.

"I'm not a softie," exclaimed Harry indignant!

She chuckled and said, "Sure, you're not. So you've been sulking all week because of what?"

"I have not been sulking all week!"

"Nope."

"I haven't!"

"Yup."

Harry growled and grabbed her arm, preventing her from entering the Three Broomsticks. He turned her abruptly to face him and said angrily, "Greengrass, I have not been sulking!"

She smiled mischievously at him and before he had time to process what was happening she pushed him against the outside wall. She then threaded her hands through his hair and swooped in to kiss him. He widened his eyes in surprise but being a hormonal bloke he relented quickly and kissed her back. He heard chuckling as others passed them to go inside. _Bloody hell she was a good kisser! _He decided to take control and turned them so Daphne was against the wall, then he threaded his own hands through her beautiful blond hair. _It's so soft! _Their kiss was turning into a heavy snogging session and Harry gasped as Daphne pulled herself up by her arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. He staggered under the sudden weight and pushed her against the wall harder to stabilize them, groaning at they're closeness. Daphne pulled away from the kiss and started sucking on his neck and he had to steady himself with a hand against the wall it felt so good. "Fuck."

"Do you like that baby," asked Daphne devilishly?

Harry moaned some more in response then started unbuttoning her coat and the top of her shirt. He quickly followed this by sucking on the top of her breasts while he ran his hand under her shirt.

"Fuck yes," groaned Daphne throwing her head back against the wall making Harry grin evilly at her from his place in between her breasts.

Harry who was panting heavily suddenly realized he was grinding against her and stopped, making Daphne whimper in protest. He took a minute to calm himself down and panted, "Daphne, we need to stop."

She growled then whined, "No we don't!"

He shook his head to try and clear it then said, "Yes, we do." He then pulled her legs down from around his waist and took a step back away from her. When he met her eyes they were burning with fire and she said, "Cut the Gryffindor chivalry crap, if I didn't want you, I wouldn't have thrown myself at you. I don't need you to look out for me, if I want you to stop I'll let you know!"

Harry ran his hands through his already tussled hair and reasoned, "Daphne, we're outside, where anyone can see us."

"And?" she snapped.

Harry raised his eyebrows at her and said, "Surely, you didn't want me to shag you in the street against a wall?"

Her eyes glinted mischievously again and she asked, "I take it you're not an exhibitionist then?"

He widened his eyes and she laughed before she said, "Oh baby, the fun I could have with you."

"Why you little vixen you," replied Harry pulling her close again and nibbling on her earlobe. He pulled away and said, "Come on we should head inside." He opened the door for her and once she had passed he fixed his jeans. _Merlin she was hot_.

Ron gave him a look when they finally got to the table but Harry ignored it. He sat down and Daphne sat on his lap almost immediately. He realized there wasn't as many of them as last week, "Where is everyone else?"

"I know Dean and Seamus went to a muggle club to go dancing with Hermione, Tracey, Susan and Hannah," replied Neville.

Harry glared at him and Neville raised his eyebrows challengingly. "Sorry," replied Harry somewhat embarrassed that he was so possessive of Hermione.

"So Potter, you move quick," said Draco raising his eyebrows at Daphne in Harry's lap

"Shut up Malfoy. Not that it's any of your business but Hermione and I agreed to see other people."

"Good, then you won't mind when I take her out," replied Draco.

"What?" asked Harry and Ron at the same time, completely dumbfounded?

Draco rolled his eyes at them and said, "Apparently I spoke too fast for the Gryffindor's to understand…I'm…taking…. Hermione…out."

"But you hate her," spluttered Ron!

"I'll admit she's a know it all and that drives me crazy but she's quite shaggable this year. Besides, one night with me, and she won't be able to form a coherent thought," smirked Draco.

Harry snorted and said, "Yeah right Malfoy. There's no way Hermione would end up in bed with you!"

"That sounds like a challenge Potter."

"No, it's just a fact," snapped Harry.

"Fine. I'll just be sure to take a picture so that I have proof to show to you," replied Draco.

Harry narrowed his eyes in anger and Ron slammed his hand down on the table and said, "Enough of this! Malfoy you stay the fuck away from Hermione or I'll kick your fucking skinny ass!"

"Charming as always, Weasley," snorted Blaise.

Ron flipped them all the bird then stormed away to the bar to get more drinks. Harry was still glaring at Draco when Daphne turned around and straddled him. She pouted and said, "Come on baby. Here you have my beautiful body at your disposal and you're talking about Granger." She proceeded to close the space between them and kissed him thoroughly for several minutes, effectively wiping his mind of all thoughts.

The rest of the night consisted of more of the same for Harry... Drinking, snogging, and arguing with Draco_. When did he start referring to Malfoy as Draco? Maybe Hermione was right about the sexual tension? Nah. Although, it would be hot to watch Hermione with someone else. I wonder if she would let him? _Harry shook his head; he clearly had too much to drink. They somehow stumbled home and being the good Gryffindor that he is he walked Daphne to her room. _It had nothing to do with the fact that he was hard as a rock from her teasing all night. _

He pinned her against her door and whispered, "Good night Daphne."

"Good night baby," replied Daphne before aggressively kissing him. She then reached behind her and turned the knob, throwing her door open and pulling Harry in. She shut the door quickly and before Harry knew what hit him he was pushed back against the door and Daphne was undoing his pants. She quickly fell to her knees and smirked up at him and said, "Oh baby."

"Daph…neee… ughh…" replied Harry incoherently as she enveloped him with her mouth.

She kept up a brutal pace, so much so that Harry was steadying himself against the door. He was making a ton of noise. _Fuck it felt amazing. _She was determined and he quickly felt his desire burning, "Daph…"

She looked up at him and saw he was trying to warn her so she pulled back and replaced her mouth with her hand and cooed, "Come on baby, that's it."

He threw his head back in pleasure and rode out his orgasm, "Bloody fucking hell."

She cleaned them both with her wand then stood, smiling devilishly at Harry, "Was it good baby?"

Instead of responding Harry just pulled her in for a lazy kiss and squeezed her ass. He whispered, "brilliant," as she opened the door for him, gently shoving him back out into the hallway. She winked at him before shutting the door, leaving him standing in the hallway dazed and confused, but incredibly satisfied. He was broken out of his trance by laughter. Specifically Hermione's laughter…

He walked out to the common room and found Dean carrying Hermione and stumbling to get to the couch. He tripped and they both fell onto the couch with Dean landing on top of her. Harry clenched his jaw in anger. He was suddenly very much sober and extremely pissed off. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms waiting for them to respond.

"Harrrrrry," squealed Hermione excitedly!

He raised his eyebrows. This was not the greeting he expected from her.

"Dean was sooooo good to me tonight. I kept falling from these shoes…and…he carried me…all the way back," she replied smiling up at him before asking, "Isn't that soooo sweet of him?"

Harry grumbled in response and Dean caught on that Harry's wasn't thrilled with him lying on top of Hermione. "Right, well, now that you're safely back, I'm going to head to bed."

Harry nodded and Hermione said, "Night night Dean," before bursting into giggles.

Once Dean was gone Harry moved closer to Hermione and said, "Jesus Hermione how much did you drink tonight?"

She giggled and hiccupped then giggled some more before finally saying, "A lot."

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Obviously."

"Harry, I'm soooo sorry. I was such a bitch to you all week."

"It's alright Hermione. Let's call us even since I was a bitch to you a lot last year," grinned Harry.

She burst out laughing and after a minute said, "I kept thinking about you tonight. There were all these blokes dancing with me and I kept wishing they were you."

Harry smiled slightly but looked away from her.

"What's wrong?"

Harry shook his head and said, "Nothing."

"Don't lie to me Mr. Potter, or I'll have to punish you," replied Hermione sexily moving towards him. She tentatively kissed him then whispered, "I kissed someone else tonight Harry."

Shocked he pulled back away from her eyes wide open.

"It was nice but it wasn't the same as kissing you," continued Hermione shyly. When Harry didn't say anything she said, "Aren't you going to say something?"

He ran his hands through his hair then said, "I kissed someone else tonight too."

"You did," she asked barely above a whisper?

"Yeah."

"Did you like it?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"Are we going to be able to do this Hermione? I mean I was pretty livid seeing you and Dean tonight. Was that who you kissed," asked Harry?

"Yeah. Who did you kiss?"

"Daphne."

Hermione narrowed her eyes and mumbled, "I knew it."

Harry reached out and touched her face, rubbing his thumb across her cheek. He moved in and gently kissed her, giving her a chance to push him away. This kiss was filled with love and longing and respect and admiration and desire. It was so much more than the lust he shared with Daphne. He pulled back and there were tears running down her face, "Harry, I don't want to lose you."

"You're not going to lose me, I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that Mr. Potter."


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Harry Potter.

Harry spent the next couple of weeks splitting his time between Daphne and Hermione. They both seemed to be completely ignoring the fact that he was essentially dating the both of them. He even tried to bring it up a couple of times but neither would listen to a word he said.

Daphne was such a change for him. She had a fiery personality and she was very demanding. She expected to be the center of his attention and made it clear when she wasn't happy with him. It was really quite simple for him. As long as he was focused on her when they were together she would reward him, brilliantly.

Last night was their first real fight and it was spectacular. They were fooling around in her room and things were getting out of control so he stopped, which completely pissed her off. She was livid and he was fairly certain they could hear her yelling at him in the Great Hall. The problem was that he agreed with everything she said and he wasn't sure what to do about it…

They were hungrily ripping each other's clothes off, absolutely needing to be closer. He was breathing fast and she was whimpering as he made his way down her body devouring her.

"Harry please," begged Daphne.

He ignored her and continued to focus on bringing her to release, licking, sucking, and nipping her everywhere. "Fucking beautiful," he groaned.

She was trembling under him and he knew she was close, "Please Harry, I want you inside me," she begged.

He shook his head no and Daphne growled at him before pushing him off her. He looked at her surprised and she pushed him onto his back climbing on top of him. She took him in her hands and started to line up above him when he grabbed her and said, "No, Daphne."

She was absolutely furious with him, giving him a scathing look before getting off the bed and putting on a lace robe. "Why the fuck not Harry?"

"I just can't."

"You can't or you won't?"

"I don't know Daph. Come on, I don't want to fight with you," sighed Harry.

"Well, what do you want to do with me, because clearly you don't want to fuck me," screeched Daphne!

"Daph," started Harry trying to pacify her but she cut him off, "Don't you dare feed me some bullshit line, Potter!"

Harry sighed heavily and replied, "I wasn't going to. It's not that I don't want to sleep with you, it's just that I made this promise to Hermione."

She reacted quickly, "Not this again! Look, I don't care about Granger! Why the fuck does she get to decide if you fuck me? Fuck her, don't fuck her, I could care less but for Merlin's sake I want to be able to fuck you! Can't you just fuck her, get it over with and then come back to me?"

Harry should have run, because he knew the more she cursed, the angrier she was. He gulped and said, "I'm sorry, Daph. I didn't think it would be this hard on you."

She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "What's that supposed to mean, that you don't want me? Am I not fucking good enough for you Potter? Don't want to contaminate yourself with a filthy Slytherin!"

He stood up angrily and said, "That's not what I meant and you know it! Of course I fucking want you! It physically hurts I want you so much, but I made a fucking promise!"

"You know what Potter, fuck you and fuck your promise! And get the fuck out of my room!"

"Daph…"

"Potter, I'm going to fucking curse you if you don't get the fuck out, NOW!"

"Fine," snapped Harry grabbing his boxers and putting them on followed by his jeans. He then opened the door and Daphne threw his shirt over his head into the hallway and slammed the door in his face.

"Casanova strikes again."

"Fuck you Malfoy!"

"What is it with you and witches? Do you not know how to please them in bed? They're constantly throwing you out of their rooms. If you want I cant tutor you, Potter," replied Draco laughing.

"Fucking asshole," snapped Harry storming down the hallway away from the laughing Slytherin. Of course several people were in the common room and most likely heard everything Daphne said to him. The guys gave him sympathetic looks as he walked past them to get to his room. He opened his door, slammed it and quickly threw a punch at it, "Fuck!"

"Harry?"

He spun around and saw Hermione standing in the doorway that connected their rooms. He tried to reign in his temper and said, "Yeah?"

She looked down and said, "I heard what Daphne said to you."

He just looked at her, not sure what to say, finally settling on, "I think everyone in the Great Hall heard what Daph said to me."

Hermione internally winced at his use of a nickname for Daphne. "I'm sorry. I don't want to cause problems between you two."

"Hermione."

"No, Harry, just listen. If you want to call off our agreement I'll understand. I know you like Daphne and she's clearly a better match for you than I am."

Harry frowned and moved closer to her. He gently lifted her face so he could look in her eyes and asked, "Why do you think she's a better match for me?"

She shrugged and looked away again.

"Hermione. You're wrong. I'm not going to deny that I care for her, that I want her, that I enjoy being with her. But I still want you, I still care for you, and I still enjoy being with you. We agreed no shagging. Are you saying you want to change that?"

She bit her lip and said, "I don't know Harry. I don't think I realized how sexual relationships are when you're not worried about a maniac trying to kill you. I've had a hard time as well."

Harry raised his eyebrows at her and asked, "Really? Or are you just saying this to make me happy?"

She huffed and replied, "Just because you don't think I have sexual desires, doesn't mean I don't."

"Shit, you know I'm no good at this, Hermione. That's not what I meant," sighed Harry heavily.

"Look, the whole point of doing this, dating others, was to experiment. I mean I've learned from being with you that I'm clearly not meant to be with Ron. What if you're meant to be with Daphne?"

"Why do I have to be meant to be with anyone? We're just dating, Hermione. I'm not proposing. Daph's angry with me, and honestly, I don't blame her. This whole time I've been dating the both of you, it was bound to end in disaster."

"Harry, I want you to answer one question for me. I don't want you to think about it, I just want you to reply instantly. First thought that comes into your head. Can you do that for me?"

Harry thought for a minute and said, "Sure, ask away."

"No thinking, Harry. Just say it. OK?"

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Yes, I understand. Just ask me your question!"

"Do you want to have sex with Daphne?"

He hesitated and Hermione said, "Harry! I told you just spit it out! Don't think about it, understand?"

He nodded and she asked, "What's the first word that comes to mind when you think of Daphne?"

"Sexy."

"What's the thing you like most about Daphne?"

"She's demanding."

"What's the thing you like least about her?"

"She's impatient."

"What do like most about me," asked Hermione curiously?

Harry raised his eyebrows at her but replied, "Your unwavering beliefs."

"What do you like least about me?

"You study too much," he replied mischievously.

"What's the first word that comes to mind when you think of me?"

"Love," Harry replied instantly.

Hermione blinked in surprise but didn't want to slow down.

"Do you want to sleep with Daphne?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to sleep with me?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to sleep with us at the same time," Hermione asked cheekily?

"Fuck yes," groaned Harry.

Hermione laughed and said, "Harry, go back to Daphne. Apologize. Give her what she wants. I'm not going anywhere."

"Are you sure? I mean I thought we… I… you," replied Harry flustered.

"What are you on about," asked Hermione amused?

"Aren't you a virgin Hermione," asked Harry blushing?

"Yes."

"Don't you want us to lose our virginity together," he asked confused?

"Look Harry, it's supposed to be incredibly uncomfortable for a girl their first time and I'd hate to dampen your experience because I was crying and bleeding. I'm assuming Daphne's not a virgin if she wants you this badly. You deserve to enjoy your first time."

"Hermione, that's … just ridiculous!"

"What?"

He rolled his eyes and replied, "Stop being a Martyr. Do I want Daphne? Absolutely. But I want you to be my first and I want to be your first. It's just a matter of when as far as I'm concerned."

"Oh really, Mr. Potter?"

"Fuck yes Miss Granger," growled Harry.

"Watch your language Mr. Potter or I'm going to have to punish you," replied Hermione huskily.

"Please do," challenged Harry.

"Cheeky bastard, aren't you?"

"Fuck yes."

Hermione grabbed the back of his head and brought him closer to her so she could snog him senseless. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist as Harry walked towards his bed. He dropped her on it and quickly covered her body with his. It was as if someone lit a match, their desire was burning through them. Their clothes were tossed off and within minutes they were completely naked. Harry stopped and gazed into Hermione's eyes and she said, "Harry, make love to me."

He smiled and said, "Fuck Yes, Miss Granger," before smothering her cries with his mouth as he pushed inside her swiftly. Once he was in fully he stopped and placed soft kisses across her face and smoothed her hair away from her face. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and tentatively moved, testing to see if it hurt. She grimaced slightly but said, "It's alright Harry, you can move now."

Harry nodded unable to speak with the desire coursing through his veins. He moved slow and steady. He was incredibly gentle and whispered words of love in her ear…

"I love you so much Hermione."

"I love …you too …Harry."

"Merlin you feel incredible," groaned Harry into her neck.

"Mmmm hmmm," moaned Hermione distractedly.

"Talk to me love," whispered Harry.

"Harry…"

"Look at me love..."

Hermione opened her eyes and met Harry's loving gaze, "You're perfect Hermione."

She blushed and buried her head in his neck moaning as the pleasure started to overcome the pain, "Ahhh."

"That's it Hermione. It feels good doesn't it," asked Harry smirking?

"Yessss," gasped Hermione then she stiffened and her eyes shot open, "Harry!" Her voice was different and she sounded panicked.

He stopped immediately and asked, "What is it? Did I hurt you?"

"No, Harry, the spell! We forgot to cast the contraception spell," said Hermione quickly.

He nodded and looked around for one of their wands, finding his on the floor right near them. He moved to reach it and she yelped in pain at the deeper penetration. Harry stilled completely horrified that he hurt her. He leaned forward and kissed the tears away and said, "I'm so sorry, love. I didn't mean to hurt you."

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes to reassure him, "It's alright Harry, I'm fine. It just hurt more than I expected."

Harry started to pull away from her and she wrapped her arms and legs around him effectively holding him in place, "No Harry. Please, don't stop."

"Are you sure love, I don't want to hurt you," asked Harry concerned?

"I'm positive Harry. Please, just cast the spell," begged Hermione starting to move slowly again.

He closed his eyes from the pleasure, cast the spell quietly then began to meet her again gently. He kissed her lovingly and they kept up a steady but slow pace for quite a while until they were both breathing erratically and moving faster. "Hermione…I'm close."

She kissed him and said, "Go ahead and finish love."

He heard the strain in her voice and opened his eyes to see that she was wincing after each thrust and he said, "Do you want me to stop?"

"No, love, I want you to finish," replied Hermione caressing his face and pulling him in for a passionate kiss. He increased his pace and quickly exploded inside her, causing him to groan and collapse on top of her. She ran her hands through his hair and peppered kisses all over the side of his face and neck that was exposed to her.

"Are you alright? Did I hurt you," asked Harry when he had recovered somewhat?

"I'm alright. I'm definitely sore but it was worth it, Harry," replied Hermione sincerely.

He moved off of her and pulled her into his arms. She immediately curled up into his chest and sighed. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her arms. "That was perfect Hermione."

She nodded tiredly and Harry pulled the blanket over them before they both fell asleep.

Author's note: Well what did you think? Up next... Harry makes it up to Daphne and we find out who else Hermione is getting up close and personal with. Any suggestions?


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Harry Potter.

_**Hermione's week…**_

Hermione was extremely sore after her night with Harry but she was just so happy to be with him that she spent the whole next day wrapped in his arms. It was like they were in their own bubble, but unfortunately Monday came soon enough along with schoolwork. It was a fairly normal week but she noticed two things… Daphne wasn't going to classes and Harry was becoming increasingly distracted as the week went on.

Sitting in the library Friday afternoon she thought back on the week. Purposely ignoring what was going on with Harry and Daphne, she mostly thought about what she was going to do. She knew she was in love with Harry but she had also come to enjoy being with Neville. No one knew that they had dated in secret the beginning of sixth year and she had started to see him again this year. He was so much more confident than he was before the war and she found it incredibly sexy. When she was with him he made her feel like the center of the world, always completely focused on her. They had had some heavy snogging sessions in the past couple of weeks but nothing like what happened last night…

She was sitting on his bed waiting for him to get back from classes and he smiled when he opened the door and saw her. He closed the door, tossed his things down and said, "Hey, beautiful. This is a pleasant surprise." He immediately began taking his robe off, then his tie, then his shirt. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him as he began unbuttoning his pants. He smirked and asked, "Like what you see, beautiful?"

She smiled and raised herself to her knees on the bed and beckoned him forward with her finger.

He looked at her curiously before moving in front of her. She ran both her hands across his chest, then down his abdomen before pushing his pants down, leaving him in just his boxers. She distractedly noticed he wore the loose fitting kind whereas Harry wore the fitted kind. He stepped out of his pants and watched Hermione check him out. He chuckled lightly and said, "It's not nice to stare beautiful."

She blushed fiercely and he grabbed her arms pulling her towards him roughly for a searing kiss. She moaned in appreciation and he pushed her back on the bed, quickly taking her shoes then her socks off and throwing them across the room. She laughed and he looked at her sternly making her stop. He waited a minute before unbuttoning her jeans and essentially ripping them off of her, making her gasp in surprise. He glared at her and she bit her lip nervously until he ordered, "Sit up."

She complied immediately and he pulled her top off and tossed it on the floor. He pushed her back on the bed and stared at her, running his eyes up and down her body making her quite uncomfortable. She started squirming under his gaze and he commanded, "Stop moving."

She bit her lip and stopped moving but she was incredibly turned on. After a minute she couldn't take it anymore and asked, "Neville?"

He glared at her and ordered "Turn over."

She looked at him questioningly but he just crossed his arms and said, "Turn over," again. She did so slowly, unsure what was going on. She felt him move her hair to the side off her back and closed her eyes at the soft touch. He began to rub her back and massage her shoulders making her moan in appreciation. She felt him unhook her bra and she lifted up as he removed it completely. He gently guided her to lie back down and he straddled over her before beginning his ministrations again, this time kissing her back softly all over. He started to lick and nip at her and she alternated between giggling and moaning. He moved further down her body and his hands started to rub her ass, softly kneading it, and she bit her lip unsure where this was going. He started rubbing her through her underwear and she let out an involuntary moan at the feeling. Taking that as his cue he grabbed one side of her panties with each hand and tugged, ripping them apart. She gasped and her eyes flew open meeting his. He smirked at her and kept eye contact while he brought the panties to his face and smelled them. She blushed something fierce and he laughed as he tossed them over his shoulder. She was completely exposed to him now and she was nervous. He pushed her gently to lie back down and began rubbing her back again. She relaxed quickly and he let his hands roam down her body freely. He spent a lot of time kissing, licking, and nipping her legs and ass, much to her embarrassment, "Neville," she squeaked out.

"Quiet," he commanded.

She bit her lip again, surprised by how turned on he was making her. She nearly screamed in surprise when she felt him spread her legs causing her to end up on her knees, completely mortified for all of one second before Neville swooped in and started licking her furiously. "Oh my god," she gasped into the bed making him chuckle.

"Do you like it when I suck you beautiful?"

She groaned into the bed and he demanded, "Answer me!"

"Y…yes," she stuttered embarrassed.

He picked up the pace and inserted three fingers into her at once, making her yelp in pain, as she was still tender. Instead of stopping he leaned forward and angled his fingers to reach deeper into her. She gasped, "Neville," in surprise and turned to look at him.

"Shhh beautiful, just relax," he said a few times until she turned around and put her head back down on the bed following his lead. He was fairly rough with her but it felt incredibly good and she was moaning quite loudly after only a few minutes.

"Ahhh …Neville… please," begged Hermione not sure herself if she was asking him to stop or to keep going.

"Come on beautiful, I want you to come for me," ordered Neville.

She squirmed around his fingers and moaned as he became even rougher with her. It was slightly painful now but also incredibly intense and she found herself pushing back against him. He nipped her ass and started licking her again as he pounded into her with his right hand while pulling her hips back with his left hand. He was squeezing her hip hard and she knew she was going to have bruises there tomorrow, but she couldn't care less as she felt her orgasm rip through her. Neville continued to lick up her juices until she couldn't stand it anymore because she was so sensitive. She moved away and crashed onto the bed, completely spent.

She heard Neville laughing and opened her eyes to look at him. He was grinning, smirking really and if she weren't so damn exhausted she would have been annoyed with him. She felt him lie down next to her and he kissed her nose softly before pulling her face towards him for a kiss. She was so tired but he insisted on kissing her. She pulled away after a minute and met his gaze. Amused he asked, "Did you like that?"

She rolled her eyes and said, "Arrogant much?"

He growled and threaded his hands through her hair pulling her back to him and kissing her roughly again. When he was finished he pulled away and said, "I have good reason to be, you came all over me."

"Neville," she gasped mortified!

He moved close to her ear and growled, "You taste fucking fantastic beautiful and I can't wait to fuck you senseless one day soon."

She gaped at him and he bit her neck then her earlobe before he pulled back and said, "Would you like that beautiful? If I fuck you senseless?"

Hermione was practically dripping she was so turned on. Holy Fucking Merlin was Neville sexy when he took control. She was unable to form words so she simply nodded in response making him grin lasciviously at her.

Back in the library, Hermione blushed, realizing she was getting turned on just thinking about it. She was in the library for Merlin's sake! She decided to head back to the common room and try to figure out what she was going to do tonight. She probably should try and talk to Harry as well since they hadn't talked much since last weekend.

_**Harry's week…**_

Harry spent most of the next day in his own world with Hermione, snuggling and kissing in bed. They were forced back to reality on Monday and Harry started to think about Daphne and what he was going to do. _Perhaps he should just end things with her, after all it wasn't fair to her_… but something was nagging at him and he couldn't figure out what it was. She must have been avoiding him because he didn't see her all day and when he knocked on her door that night she wasn't there. As the week progressed the nagging feeling got stronger and stronger and he became more desperate to find her and make things right between them. It didn't help that he was getting death glares from Tracey and Pansy all week. Something just didn't feel right so he did the unthinkable and approached her sister Astoria in the Great Hall Friday.

"Astoria, can I talk to you for a second," he asked nervously, noticing all the Slytherin's stop talking to glare at him?

She rolled her eyes at him and said, "No, Potter. I have nothing to say to you," before turning her back to him.

Unsure what to do, he gulped and said, "It's about Daphne."

She whipped around and yelled, "Haven't you done enough damage, Potter? Leave my sister alone!"

Surprised, Harry asked, "What are you talking about?"

She huffed, "Stupid fucking Gryffindor," and stormed away from the table, leaving him standing there like an idiot.

Several people were staring at him so he turned and left the Great Hall wondering what on earth that was all about. He went over their fight in his mind again and again but still didn't understand. _Why would Daphne's sister be mad at him? Was Daph bothered that much that he wouldn't have sex with her?_ He felt like he was missing something. He needed to talk to Daphne and figure out what was going on…_if he could just find her._ So he began searching the castle for her. He searched for hours without success and returned to his common room slightly desperate, practically mowing people over to get to her bedroom. He knocked and knocked and knocked with no response. _Where was she? _He banged his head on the door and slid to the floor in front of it, determined to stay here until she got back._ It was Friday night; surely she was going to come back to her room to get ready to go out. _

As the time passed he realized how unsettled he was. He thought about Daphne, what she looked like when she laughed, when she was angry. What she looked like in the throes of passion. He replayed their argument over and over again in his head, wondering what he missed. _Why did thinking about her make him feel like someone was sitting on his chest? _

Several people had noticed him sitting on the floor in front of her door and looked at him strangely. A few even tried to talk to him, but he just grunted at them and they quickly realized he wasn't in the mood to talk. Hermione even stopped when she noticed him and watched him curiously for a minute before heading to her room.

Finally Harry couldn't take sitting there anymore, and on a whim decided to try her door. It was unlocked so he entered it slowly, feeling out of place without her with him. He looked around confused. _Why did it look exactly like it did last weekend?_ He noticed his socks and shoes where he left them, her clothes still on the floor where they had been tossed. He walked around her room feeling somewhat sick. He covered his mouth, feeling quite nauseous. _Had she gone somewhere? What if something happened to her? _

"Finally noticed she's gone, have you," sneered Draco from the doorway?

He whipped around and asked desperately, "Where is she?"

Draco was shocked to see there were tears running down his face. He gaped at Harry in response, which infuriated Harry and he yelled, "DAMNIT MALFOY! WHERE IS SHE?"

Draco recovered and said, "She's staying with her sister in the Slytherin dorms. She's been there all week."

He was barely finished talking when Harry stormed past him. There was a crowd in the common room and he heard several people gasp when they saw him. He heard Hermione call him, "Harry?" but he didn't stop. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him. _Why did he feel like he couldn't breathe?_ He practically ran to the Slytherin dorms and scared some first year half to death when he demanded to be let in. Once inside the common room became completely silent. He looked around but didn't see Daphne anywhere, "Where's Daphne?"

No response. They all just gaped at him and he yelled, "ANSWER ME!"

People started coming down from the dorms to investigate what was going on and he yelled, "Damn it, I know she's here!"

"What the fuck Potter," sneered Astoria storming down the stairs to get to him?

"I know she's here, Astoria, I want to see her," demanded Harry.

"Fuck you Potter. She doesn't want to see you," growled Astoria.

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration and looked around him trying to figure out what to do. He noticed that his Slytherin roommates had come. _He wondered why were they looking at him like he was crazy? _He growled and demanded, "I want to see her!"

Astoria pushed him back and yelled, "I don't give a fuck what you want Potter! Leave. My. Sister. Alone."

He was desperate. _He had to see her. "_DAPHNE,"he yelled heading to the dormitory stairs. He climbed the stairs two at a time yelling, "DAPHNE," repeatedly with Astoria and half the Slytherin's following.

A door flew open and Daphne looked out shocked and said, "Harry?"

He acted on impulse and practically toppled her with the force of his hug. Shocked she just stood there looking desperately at her sister over Harry's shoulder. He was muttering but she couldn't understand anything he was saying. Finally she managed to push him away and stepped back from him. She gasped when she saw the tears running down his face, "Harry?"

He looked at her, really looked at her. Her eyes were red and puffy and she looked exhausted. Her hair wasn't done but just pulled back in a ponytail and she had on sweats. He had never seen her like this before. He tentatively reached out and touched her face, rubbing his thumb across her cheek and whispered, "Daphne."

She started to cry and he pulled her into his chest, kissing the top of her head and rubbing her back, "I'm so sorry, Daph."

She was sobbing now and he held her tighter and asked desperate, "Tell me what's going on Daphne, please."

She shook her head back and forth in denial and he begged, "Please. I don't understand. I've been looking for you all week. I just thought you needed space but then tonight I couldn't take it anymore and I went into your room and it looks like you haven't been there all week. Then Malfoy said you were staying here and I don't understand, Daph. Please tell me what's going on."

She pulled away enough to look up at him, her eyes big and wide and she choked back her sobs, "I still don't know how it happened…it just snuck up on me… and it hurts so much. I can't get rid of this feeling and I hate it!"

He was so confused, "Daph, please, I don't understand?"

She sniffled looking down at the floor, and said quietly, "Somewhere, somehow, I managed to fall for you Harry… I think I fell in love with you."

In that moment Harry realized why it felt like someone was sitting on his chest, why he was sick thinking of something happening to Daphne. He staggered under the weight of his realization and whispered, "I…I think… I love you too Daph."

She sobbed and threw herself in his arms and he closed his eyes feeling so much better than he had all week. _How did this happen? What about Hermione? Was it possible to love the both of them? What was he going to do?_

Astoria and a fair number of Slytherin's stood in the hallway in shock. They watched in morbid fascination as Daphne pulled Harry down for a kiss. They both had tears streaming down their face. It was such a tender kiss, obviously filled with love that Astoria felt like they deserved some privacy. She stepped forward and pulled the door closed making some whine in protest as they trekked back downstairs. She stood surrounded by Draco, Blaise, Pansy and Tracey; all completely surprised by the scene they just witnessed.

Author's note: So what do you think? Hermione and a very dominant Neville! Harry's in love with two girls! What's next for our confused duo?


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: I got many reviews on the last chapter, some hated the Daphne part, some loved the Daphne part, some hated the Neville part, and some loved the Neville part. I get it, really I do but they are teenagers and they're still figuring out what love is and how to deal with relationships. I know Neville is OOC but I'm taking the liberty of making him confident post war. Interested to hear what you think about this chapter…

Hermione woke feeling absolutely sick. She had heard what happened with Harry and Daphne from virtually everyone last night. She did her best to play it casual but quickly headed to her room where she proceeded to cry for hours and hours. She didn't even put on pajamas but just stripped off her clothes and slept in her bra and underwear. She burrowed under the covers and began to cry again. It felt like her heart had physically broken and she cursed herself for falling for Harry. She should have known that it wouldn't work out. He was so perfect and she just wasn't…She covered her head with a pillow and sobbed for what felt like an eternity. She heard a knock on her door but ignored it. She couldn't face anyone, not today, not tomorrow, not ever. She heard the door open and felt someone sit down on the bed.

"Hermione," said Ron softly.

"Go away," she choked out.

"No, I'm not going away," replied Ron pulling at the covers to try and reveal her.

She held to them tighter and began to sob again.

"Hermione, please, let me see you," begged Ron pulling the pillow off.

She sniffled and pulled the covers off her head revealing her tear streaked face and her puffy red eyes.

"Oh Hermione, I'm so sorry," said Ron pulling her towards him for a hug.

She broke down and launched herself in his embrace. He rubbed her back and whispered soothing words over and over again for well into the afternoon before trying to get her up. "Come on Hermione you can't stay in bed all day."

She shook her head no and tried to burrow under the covers again. "Please Hermione, you need to eat something."

"I'm not hungry," sniffled Hermione.

He glared at her and she added, "I think I'd just throw up whatever I ate anyway, Ron."

"Alright, then you can just have some toast or some soup, but you have to eat something Hermione."

"I don't want to see anyone, Ron. I'm so embarrassed. Everyone knows Harry picked Daphne over me. I can't bare to see them looking at me in pity."

"Hermione. You have nothing to be embarrassed about; Harry's an idiot. And I'll be sure to tell him that after I kick his ass."

"Have you seen him?"

"No, but I didn't really look for him, I was more worried about you," replied Ron getting up off the bed. "Now come on, get dressed and we can go to the kitchen and get something for you to eat."

She groaned and sniffled for a minute before finally deciding to get out of bed. Ron had turned around to give her some semblance of privacy. She walked over to her wardrobe and stood there looking at everything and began to cry again, "I don't know what to wear!"

Ron looked skyward silently praying to Merlin for help dealing with an overly emotional Hermione, "Just throw anything on, it doesn't matter what it is," he said patiently.

She sniffled some more and he turned after a minute to see if she had gotten dressed but she was still just standing there in front of the wardrobe. He moved towards her and said, "Here, let me pick something out for you."

She nodded gratefully but as he got closer to her he gasped and Hermione was shocked when he turned her so she was facing him fully. He reached out and traced his hand over a giant bruise on her left him. She looked down and knew it was bad. You could see the outline of a hand and each finger imprinted on her hip. Ron looked at her concerned and raised his hand to brush her upper arms, which also had bruises on them. She could see the anger boiling in Ron and before she was able to try and explain he was storming through her room to get to Harry's yelling his name, "Harry!"

He wasn't in his room so he stormed through into the hallway yelling, "Harry, Where are you!"

Hermione grabbed a shirt and quickly through it on chasing after him, "Ron, please, you don't understand."

"You're damn right I don't understand! POTTER! COME OUT HERE YOU FUCKING BASTARD SO I CAN KICK YOUR ASS!"

Of course their roommates were gathering to watch what was going on.

Harry came out of Daphne's room disheveled and said, "Ron?"

Ron didn't even reply he just punched Harry in the face with enough force to send him stumbling back into the wall, "What the fuck Ron!" He wiped the blood off his mouth and glared at Ron.

"How dare you fucking hurt her!"

Harry looked behind Ron and saw Hermione and he felt horrible. She looked exactly how Daphne looked yesterday. He cursed himself for always hurting someone. He moved away from the wall and said, "Hermione."

Ron punched him again then pushed him hard, "You stay the fuck away from her Potter! I can't fucking believe you!"

Hermione tried to move between them and said, "Ron, no, you don't understand! Please, just calm down."

"Hermione, no he's right. I'm sorry, I should have come to see you last night," replied Harry.

"Why so you could do more damage? I swear if you think you're going to lay one finger on her again you're fucking mental," yelled Ron.

"Ron, please you don't understand," said Hermione sobbing. She shrieked suddenly as Neville came and physically grabbed her by her arms and dragged away from them. He pushed her against the wall still holding her arms tightly and said, "For fucks sake Hermione, stop putting yourself in the middle of their fights! Do you understand me?"

She just stared at him in surprise and he rattled her and yelled, "ANSWER ME!"

Tears started to run down her face but she nodded in agreement so Neville turned around and glared at Ron and Harry, who were looking at Neville as though they had never seen him before.

Ron managed to put the pieces together very quickly when he saw how Neville just shook Hermione by her arms, in exactly the same place as her bruises. "It was you?"

Neville crossed his arms and stood in front of Hermione but said nothing.

"Ron, what are you talking about?" asked Harry confused before he glared at Neville and said, "And why did you just do that to Hermione, Neville?"

"Hermione," questioned Ron?

"You leave her out of your fucking fights," snapped Neville stepping up to Ron challengingly.

Harry was completely confused, "Will someone tell me what's going on?"

Hermione tried to step forward but Neville threw his arm out blocking her from going any further and Harry looked at him for a long moment when she spoke, "It's nothing, Ron. All right? Just leave it be."

Ron spluttered and said, "It's not nothing! You have bruises all over you for fucks sake! I assumed it was Harry who put them there but now I'm not so sure."

"What? What do you mean she has bruises all over her," asked Harry stepping towards her?

Neville moved so he was blocking him and said, "Mind your own business, Harry."

Harry looked at Neville like he was insane and snapped, "What the fuck do you have to do with any of this? I think I deserve to know if my girlfriend has fucking bruises all over her!"

Hermione snorted and yelled, "Your girlfriend? I was under the impression I stopped being your girlfriend when you professed your love to another girl in front of the entire fucking school!"

Harry winced and said, "Hermione, we talked about this, you said you were alright with me and Daphne."

"No Harry. We talked about you having sex with Daphne! You never once informed me you were fucking in love with her! Didn't you think maybe I deserved to know that before the entire school knew?"

"Hermione, I'm sorry. You're right I should have talked to you first but I didn't realize it beforehand, it just sort of hit me," pleaded Harry.

"Well that just makes me feel soooo much better, Harry. Knowing your sorry just fixes everything now doesn't it," sneered Hermione sarcastically.

Again Harry tried to move closer to Hermione and again Neville stood in his way, royally pissing him off, "Get the fuck out of the way Neville!"

"No Potter, you stay the fuck away from her," growled Neville pushing Harry back.

"Neville, please, stop it," begged Hermione from behind him.

Harry was completely livid and was starting to lose his patience.

Ron moved to Harry's side before asking, "What the fuck is going on Hermione?"

"Will you all just stop it," she screeched. "Let me tell you what's going on Ron, Harry is fucking in love with Daphne but somehow still feels he has a right to call me his girlfriend! Has the right to demand answers from me. Neville's here because he actually gives a shit about me!"

"Did he give you those bruises," demanded Ron?

"What bruises," snapped Harry?

"She has fucking bruises all over her, on her hips, on her arms!"

Harry narrowed his eyes at Neville who simply looked at Hermione with his eyebrows raised.

She refused to make eye contact with Neville and yelled, "It's none of your business Ron!"

He stuttered incoherently at her response and Harry looked at her concerned, "Hermione, was it me? Did I hurt you?"

She snorted and repeated, "Did you hurt me? Seriously Harry?"

He winced and reworded his question, "Are the bruises from me?"

Completely annoyed that all he seemed to care about were these fucking bruises and not the fact that he broke her heart she snapped, "Fuck you Harry," before turning and storming away from all of them.

"Hermione," called Harry trying to go after her but Neville grabbed his arm. Harry had just about enough and turned and punched Neville in the face. "What the fuck is going on Neville?"

Neville casually wiped his nose of the blood and growled, "I'll tell you what's going on Potter. The days of you and Weasley taking advantage of Hermione are over!"

Harry growled and shoved Neville back into the wall putting his forearm across his throat, "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Neville shoved Harry away from him and said, "I don't fucking answer to you Potter. Just stay the fuck away from Hermione!"

"Why you little shit," growled Ron advancing on him.

Neville raised his eyebrows at Ron and said, "Stay out of this Weasley."

"Fuck you Longbottom," snapped Ron pushing him against the wall. "Did you put those bruises on her?"

When Neville didn't answer, Ron kneed him in the balls causing him to hunch over. Ron then leaned down and growled, "I asked you a fucking question Longbottom! Did you put those bruises on her?"

Neville chuckled as he tried to stand up. He looked slightly crazy as he sneered, "I did Weasley and she fucking loved every minute of it!"

Ron reacted instantly, launching himself at Neville crashing them to the floor. As they threw punches at each other, Neville rolled them over so that he was on top of Ron and Harry came over and ripped him off of Ron throwing him back before attacking Neville himself. Harry started banging Neville's head on the floor when he was pulled off of him. He was being held back by someone and tried to pull free without success, "I'm going to fucking kill you Longbottom!"

Neville laughed and said, "Bring it Potter."

He heard Ron struggling, trying to get free, next to him and turned to see who had stopped their fight. Seamus was holding back Ron while Dean was holding Harry. Blaise had stepped in front of Neville and Malfoy was in the middle of them all.

"As much as I'd love to see you all kill each other you're getting blood all over our side of the house. At least have the fucking decency to do it on your side," sneered Malfoy!

Harry looked down and saw blood all over his now ripped shirt. He wiped his face and saw the blood on his hands. He looked around and realized they all had blood all over them. He saw the rest of his roommates watching them in shock.

Harry shook his head and started to walk away. He knew he needed to talk to Hermione, talk to Daphne, figure out what the fuck he was doing, and a host of other things but right now all he wanted to do was get out of here. Everyone watched in silence as he left the house through the common room door.


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own Harry Potter.

Harry went straight to the Quidditch field and changed in the locker room. One of the perks of defeating Voldemort was that Professor McGonagall had given him a permanent locker in here, with his Gryffindor gear, even though he wasn't on the team anymore. She said he could come flying anytime he wanted even after he left school and Harry thought that was pretty brilliant. He was quickly in the air, enjoying flying for what felt like the first time in a long time. He kept at it for hours, all manner of thoughts running through his head. His emotions were all over the place and he would speed up when he was angry and slow down when he was sad. When either emotion got too overwhelming he would do some dives or flips to take his mind off of everything.

Daphne had watched the fight with everyone else and wasn't the least bit surprised to see Harry and Ron react that way to someone hurting Hermione. She watched Neville and how possessive he was of Hermione, how he shook her, and she couldn't help but be worried for her.

If she hadn't been seeing Harry she wouldn't have given it a second thought. But she was seeing Harry and she knew Hermione was one of the most important people in the world to him. He would be devastated if something happened to her. The fact was she loved Harry and she didn't want to see him hurting. She also knew that Hermione loved Harry and if she demanded he choose between the two of them, he would choose Hermione.

And Daphne did not want to be without him, this past week was proof enough of that. So how could she fix this so that they all got what they wanted? She paced her room until a plan formed in her head, it was unusual and she wasn't sure if she could do it herself, but it was worth a try. Now she just needed to talk to Hermione before Harry got back. She went through her vanity and grabbed a salve to help with bruises; after all it might help to gain Hermione's trust, before heading to her room.

Daphne knocked on Hermione's door and received, "Go Away," in response.

Sighing she replied, "Granger, I need to talk to you."

There was silence for a minute before the door opened and an angry yet curious Hermione stood there.

"May I come in," asked Daphne?

Hermione seemed unsure but finally moved to the side to let Daphne in. She closed the door and watched as Daphne walked around her room.

"You're room is very similar to mine but I like the color scheme of yours better and you have nicer furniture," said Daphne.

Hermione just stared at her in confusion.

"I don't have all these doors though," added Daphne opening the one that led to Ron's room. She peeked her head into the room then turned back and raised her eyebrows at Hermione questioningly.

"It's Ron's room," replied Hermione annoyed.

"Really? And this one," asked Daphne opening the door on the opposite wall and peeking into the other bedroom.

"Surely you know that's Harry's room," snapped Hermione.

Jealousy flashed through Daphne and she said, "Actually, I've never been in Harry's room. I guess now I know why."

"Really," asked Hermione genuinely surprised?

"Yes. Really," replied Daphne coldly.

Daphne had moved on to the third door and poked her head in finding the bathroom. She came back out and said, "I wonder why the bedrooms on the Slytherin side don't connect like these do?"

"We added the doorways when we picked out our rooms. We spent all last year living together so it seemed odd for us not to at least have our rooms connected. Honestly, I'm still getting used to having my own bedroom again," replied Hermione casually.

"Wait, you had to share a bedroom with them," asked Daphne horrified?

Hermione looked surprised and asked, "Yes, didn't Harry tell you?"

"No. He doesn't really talk about the war with me," frowned Daphne.

"Oh. I'm sure he will, just give him time," replied Hermione sympathetically.

"Actually, I don't think he will which is part of the reason I'm here," said Daphne sitting down in Hermione's desk chair.

Hermione raised her eyebrow questioningly and said, "What do you mean?"

"I'm just going to be straight with you, alright Granger?"

Hermione sat down on the bed across from Daphne and nodded in response.

"I love Harry. And Harry loves me."

Hermione looked as though she was going to interrupt in anger so Daphne added, "Hold on a second. But you also love Harry and Harry also loves you."

Hermione calmed down some and let Daphne continue uninterrupted, "I thought maybe what we were doing before could just continue with Harry spending half his time with me and the other half with you but I see now that's not going to work. One of us is always going to feel jealous of the other if we keep that up. And I can't walk away from him; I'm not that selfless. And he loves you too much to let you go."

"Daphne, I'm not following. Harry's made his decision. He made it perfectly clear that he wanted to be with you," replied Hermione bitterly.

"No, he didn't. I mean technically yes he made it clear he wanted to be with me, but he never ever picked me over you. He's just so naïve that he thought we could all just keep seeing each other as if nothing had changed."

"That's crazy," replied Hermione

"I know. That's men for you. So since we both know things have changed, we're left with my unusual idea. Would you like to hear it," asked Daphne smirking.

Hermione thought for a moment before sighing and replying, "Sure, why not."

Daphne smiled and asked, "Have you ever dated a witch?"

Confused Hermione replied, "No…"

"And would you be opposed to dating a witch?"

"No…"

"Brilliant. Now here's what I was thinking. Since Harry loves the both of us and we both love him, any problems would most likely be a result of you and I fighting. We would end up jealous of each other and Harry would be caught in the middle. Are you following me?"

"Yeah…"

"So what if you and I became closer, perhaps even dated. This way we wouldn't ever feel left out or jealous of the other. Plus, I think if it worked Harry would think he had died and gone to heaven."

Hermione looked at Daphne like she was crazy and opened and closed her mouth several times before finally saying, "You think we should date? You and I?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Granger, I just told you! I thought you were supposed to be brilliant!"

"No, I mean why are you willing to share Harry with me, when he's clearly willing to be with you alone, without me?"

"You're wrong Granger. If you asked Harry to choose between us, he would choose you. I have no doubt in my mind. If the only way I can be with Harry is to share him with you then that's what I'll do. It's better than losing him completely,"' replied Daphne sincerely.

"I don't think Harry would choose me but more importantly I would never make him choose. He loves you. He's happy with you. I'm not going to take that away from him. He above anyone else deserves to be happy and loved," replied Hermione then she asked, "But you really think the two of us should date?"

"Yes, I think it would help if you and I had a relationship with each other. It would help with the jealousy and the tension and then we would be able to spend time with Harry together instead of only getting him half of the time."

"I have to admit it sounds quite logical when you put it like that but…I've never been with a girl before," replied Hermione blushing.

"Me neither. But I'm not opposed to it. I guess we would just have to figure it out as we went along," said Daphne.

Hermione bit her lip deep in thought before she said, "Well, it is one of the things I was supposed to do this year…date a girl I mean."

"What?"

"My Mum made me promise I would date and have fun this year but she was very specific that I had to date at least one girl."

Daphne laughed and said, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I know, she's mental. But if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have dated Harry at all and that would have been a shame."

"So you're in," asked Daphne?

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "I can't believe I'm saying this but yes, I'm in."

Daphne smiled and said, "Good. Now that that's settled, I've brought some salve that's really good with bruises. So put it on and tell me what's going on with Longbottom."

Hermione frowned at being told what to do but she reached for the salve and walked to the mirror. She began rubbing the salve into the bruises on her left arm and said, "I don't know what you want to know. We started seeing each other again a couple weeks ago."

"Again? When did you date before," asked Daphne?

"Beginning of sixth year, but only for a few weeks."

"So if it didn't work the first time, why did you start seeing him again?"

Hermione shrugged and said, "He's different this year. More confident, stronger, more of a man, I guess. I found the change extremely alluring."

"He seems more than confident Granger. He seems downright dominant and aggressive," replied Daphne bluntly.

Hermione sighed, moved to put the salve on her right arm and said, "Yeah, I know. It just seemed to come out of nowhere. He wasn't like this sixth year. This year we had already snogged many times but the other night was the first time we had done more. And he was so rough with me. At first I was turned on but then it became painful and I couldn't tell if I was begging for him to stop or to keep going. Does that make any sense?"

"No, none at all," replied Daphne smiling; making Hermione laugh. Daphne continued, "Look, I dated this bloke from Durmstrang a couple years back. Seemed like a great guy, but after a while I realized he was only a great guy when others were around. When it was just the two of us he was rough with me, he would push me into walls, shove me, pull me by my arms, squeeze my thighs hard, things like that. I finally managed to break things off with him but it did a number on me. The thing about Longbottom that bothers me is that he was very rough with you, even though we were all there. If he's willing to do that in front of others imagine what he'll do when no one's around?"

"I guess I never thought of it that way. So you think I should break things off with him," asked Hermione?

"I do. I think you should get out while you still can before you're too attached to him. The longer you're with him the harder it will be to break things off. Plus, do you really plan on dating all three of us at the same time," smirked Daphne?

"Yeah, you're probably right. I mean I do like him but I'm not in love with him so why put myself at risk. I guess I'll talk to him."

Daphne became very serious and said, "Will you bring someone with you, even if they just stay outside the room? In case something goes wrong?"

"There's no need, I'll be fine," replied Hermione.

"Just humor me Granger. Alright?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Fine."

"Good, now let me help you put the salve on," said Daphne getting up and walking towards Hermione.

Hermione's eyes widened and she said, "I'm almost done, it's fine."

Daphne smiled and said, "You still have to put it on your hip." She grabbed the salve out of Hermione's hands and kneeled on the floor in front of Hermione. She pushed her shirt up; making Hermione hold the bottom of it, then pushed her sweatpants down to see which side was bruised. Once she realized it was the left side she pulled that side of the sweats down further and gasped at what she saw. There was an obvious handprint and each of the fingers was clear as well. The bruise was a dark purple and looked quite painful. It wrapped around her hip and Hermione hissed as Daphne started gently rubbing the salve in, "Sorry," she said quietly.

Hermione just nodded, holding her breath until Daphne was finished. She heard Daphne put the cap on the salve and looked down to watch what she was doing. Daphne looked up and Hermione thought she looked quite devious for a moment before Daphne blew gently on Hermione's hip while softly rubbing the salve in. Hermione gasped and their gazes locked…she had to admit Daphne was quite beautiful. _Maybe it wouldn't be as hard to be attracted to a witch as she thought it would be._


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own Harry Potter.

Harry felt much better after flying for a few hours. The hot shower in the locker room didn't hurt either. He was just pulling on his jeans when he heard the locker room door open and close, "Harry?"

"Yeah," replied Harry confused as to who was looking for him. Ginny turned the corner and gave him a quick smile and said, "Hey."

"Hey. What are you doing here, Gin," asked Harry turning to find a shirt to put on.

Ginny came in and took a seat on a bench near Harry and replied, "Ron came to see me. Turns out Hermione wouldn't open the door for him so he needed someone to help fix him up. Of course he wouldn't just go to the hospital wing. Anyway, he told me what happened or some of it at least. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," replied Harry quickly, too quickly while searching through his locker for a shirt.

Ginny raised her eyebrows and said, "I always feel better after a good fly, so I figured I would find you here." She noticed him getting frustrated with his locker and the fact the he still was naked from the chest up she asked, "Harry, do you have another shirt besides this ripped up and bloody one?"

He sighed and said, "It doesn't look like I do. How are you with repairing and cleaning spells?"

She scoffed and said, "Terrible. But you're in luck because I have one of yours in my locker."

He looked at her questioningly and as she went to her locker she said quietly, "It helped last year when I was missing you."

He took the shirt from her and said, "Gin…"

She cut him off and said, "No, Harry, don't."

He nodded and pulled the shirt over his head, it was pretty tight on him and Ginny laughed and said, "It seems like you've grown a little since you last wore that."

He grinned and said, "Yeah, it's amazing what happens when you actually eat three solid meals a day."

She nodded and prompted him, "So, you and Greengrass, huh? I never would have guessed."

He smiled sheepishly and said, "Yeah. I guess you heard about that too?"

She laughed and said, "Harry, the entire school has heard about that. The famous Harry Potter storms the Slytherin dungeons and pronounces his love. It's safe to say that it's come up a few times."

He nodded and looked at the floor deep in thought then said, "I'm sorry, we never really had a chance to talk over the summer. Hermione said I should talk to you before dating again but I told her we had broken up so long ago that I didn't think it was an issue. I feel like I keep messing up with witches."

She smiled and said, "It's fine Harry. You don't owe me any explanations, you're right we did break up a long time ago. Seems like a lifetime ago when we were sneaking around the school trying to stay out of sight of Ron."

Harry grinned at the memory and Ginny bumped shoulders with him and said, "I'm not going to lie, I missed you tons last year, and part of me hoped we would get back together at some point but I don't think it's in our cards. Do you?"

"I don't know Gin, but probably not. I'm having a hard enough time keeping my head straight with Daphne and Hermione. No matter what I do, I seem to end up hurting one of them."

"Yeah, Ron told me she was pretty upset, spent the morning with her crying on his shoulder."

"Jesus, I'm such an asshole," mumbled Harry.

"Well, I'm not going to disagree with you. Hermione's your best friend Harry. She stood by you unfailingly year after year, through countless battles and dangerous escapades. She gave up her family for you Harry. The least she deserves is to hear the truth from you and not through the Hogwarts gossip mill."

"Ouch Gin. Way to cheer me up," said Harry hurt.

Ginny stood up and glared down at him, "I'm not here to cheer you up Harry. I'm here to make you see sense. You may be the bloody savior of the Wizarding world, but you're a walking disaster when it comes to witches. You need to figure out what you're doing; figure out **who **you want to be with. If it's Greengrass then you need to tell Hermione that yourself and stop acting like a bloody Hufflepuff!"

"Hey!" scoffed Harry at the insult to his character.

Ginny just rolled her eyes and said, "You need to apologize to Hermione, **repeatedly. **Regardless of who you end up with romantically, she's your best friend, Harry. And you should treat her like it."

Harry raised his hands up in surrender and said, "OK, OK, I get it. I'm a bloody prat. I'll apologize to Hermione and try and fix this mess."

"Repeatedly," snapped Ginny.

"Repeatedly. I will apologize repeatedly Gin, I give you my word," replied Harry sincerely.

She looked at him sternly for a minute before nodding her head in acceptance. They left the locker room and started to walk back to the castle together. After a few minutes of silence Harry asked, "Gin, Did you know Hermione was seeing Neville?"

She looked at him for a minute before replying, "Not this time."

Harry wasn't sure what to say for some time, he just stared at her. When he finally regained his senses he said, "So she has seen him before?"

"Yeah, your sixth year they were together for a bit, in the beginning of the year, before the whole Ron and Lavender fiasco."

"Why'd they break up?"

Ginny shrugged her shoulders, looked away and said, "You'd have to ask Hermione, she never talked about it with me. Just said it didn't work out."

Harry grabbed her arm and turned her towards him, "Why do I get the feeling you're keeping something from me, Gin?"

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair before saying, "You have to understand, Harry, I'm friends with Neville… He was my rock last year."

"Alright," replied Harry slightly confused.

Ginny huffed and said, "I've heard a few things. Not from Hermione but from others that have dated Neville."

Harry clenched his jaw and said, "What kind of things?"

She looked away again and was silent for a long moment before saying, "Things you wouldn't want Hermione to experience."

Harry nodded and said, "Ron said she had bruises on her. Do you think Neville's hitting her?"

"I don't think it's that black and white Harry. I think it's much more complicated than that."

"I don't understand," replied Harry frustrated.

Ginny turned to him and smiled wistfully before touching his cheek. "Of course you don't Harry. You're too pure and good and loving to comprehend all the horrible things that can happen to a witch with the wrong bloke."

"Gin, you're scaring me. What's he doing to Hermione," he asked frantically?

"I don't know what he's doing to her, Harry. You need to talk to her yourself. Make her talk to you, make her see sense. I know it's hard for you but can you understand how if she does have bruises and they've only been together for a couple weeks, can you understand how that's a bad sign? That things can only get worse for her?"

"Why can't you talk to her Gin, she's not going to listen to me," begged Harry?

"I can't Harry, I've dated Neville. She'll just think I'm jealous," replied Ginny.

Harry looked at her and asked, "Did he hurt you, Gin, when you were dating?"

"No, Harry, it was a long time ago. But there were these moments where he was rougher than I liked, where he was controlling… And from what I saw and heard last year, I'm fairly certain those behaviors have progressed."

"What did he do last year," demanded Harry?

Ginny was suddenly angry, "It's not my story to tell, Harry! If you want to know what happened, ask Neville or Hannah. I'm not here to spill everyone's secrets. Neville's my friend. It's not why I sought you out!" She took a deep breath before continuing, "I just wanted to make sure you fixed things with Hermione. She deserves more than what you've given her. She's always been an afterthought for you and I think maybe this time you just went too far."

Harry stared at her dumbfounded as she swiftly marched away from him, and he grumbled to himself, "What the bloody hell was that all about?" As he walked frantically through the castle toward their house he couldn't stop thinking. _He needed to talk to Hermione; he needed to fix this. But he was gone for such a long time and it was late and she was probably asleep. Well, he'd just have to wake her up._

Harry stormed into his common room and found Daphne sitting on the couch waiting for him. She had a blanket wrapped around her and she looked adorable.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just needed to clear my head a little," replied Harry running his hands through his hair.

She nodded and looked away from him and he felt the urge to hug her, but he needed to fix things with Hermione. "Daph,"

She cut him off, "You know, I think I'm going to head to bed now." She got up and started to walk to her room and he found himself running to catch up with her, grabbing her arm to stop her. He saw tears on her face and wiped them away with his thumb and said, "Why are you crying, Daph?"

She tried to pull out of his grasp but he held strong and pulled her into his arms, "Tell me what's wrong, love?"

She cried for a few minutes on his chest and said, "I don't want to lose you."

"You're not going to lose me, Daph, I promise," replied Harry sincerely.

"But I can see it in your eyes, you want Granger. You're picking her over me," sniffled Daphne.

"No. I'm not. I want both of you."

Daphne laughed and said, "You honestly think Granger is going to agree to that?"

Harry sighed and said, "No, I don't but that's her decision to make. I'm not giving you up for her and I'm not giving her up for you. I want both of you. I'm giving you both the same speech. So tell me Daphne, are willing to share me and put up with me spending half my time with Hermione?"

Daphne opened her mouth to reply but Harry put his fingers across it to silence her, "I don't want an answer right now, love. Think about it first. I'm going to try and fix things with Hermione right now. We'll talk in the morning, alright?"

Daphne nodded then pulled him in for a tender kiss. She pulled away after a minute and whispered, "I love you, Harry."

He nodded and kissed her chastely before turning and walking towards his room. He quickly closed the door behind him and began stripping out of his clothes, before washing up and changing into his sleep pants. He knocked on Hermione's door but got no response so he turned the knob to find that it was locked. Frowning he grabbed his wand and tried to open it with several different spells but none of them worked. He was becoming increasingly frustrated and finally stormed out of his room and into Ron's, not even bothering to explain to a sleepy Ron what he was doing. Ron's door to her room was also locked but not as strongly. Harry was able to open it after a few minutes. He took a deep breath before entering Hermione's room and closing the door behind him. It was dark and she was sleeping soundly in bed, her hair everywhere around her. Harry put his wand down on her desk then crawled into bed behind her and pulled her towards him. She was still asleep and snuggled up to his warmth. He began kissing her shoulder and whispering to her, "Hermione." She moved a little closer to him causing Harry's body to react. He groaned trying to keep control of himself but Hermione felt him and began rubbing back against him, obviously starting to wake up. He knew she wasn't fully awake; otherwise he would have been hexed by now. "Hermione," he said softly while running his fingers down her arm. She turned so that she was facing him and looked at him sleepily. He watched as her sleepy smile slowly faded and her eyes got wider.

"Hermione," started Harry.

"Harry," gasped Hermione sitting up, quickly distancing herself from him.

"Hermione, we need to talk."

She narrowed her eyes at him and snapped, "So you just decided to join me in bed, cop a quick feel then wake me?"

Harry looked as though he had been struck, so shocked was he by her accusation. He just stared at her, obviously hurt. He started to get out of bed but he felt her hand touch his arm. He turned back to see her with tears in her eyes and she said, "I…I…Just stay. You're right we do need to talk."

He hesitated, but ultimately turned back to face her, propping himself against the headboard. "I don't like fighting with you Hermione."

"Well, I don't much enjoy it myself, Harry," replied Hermione.

"I'm sorry," said Harry sincerely.

"For what," asked Hermione petulantly with her arms crossed?

Harry looked her deeply in the eyes and said what he should have said long ago, "For everything Hermione. For making you think I picked Daphne over you. For making you doubt that I loved you. For not telling you how I felt about Daphne. For being a prat last week; for being a prat all last year... For nearly getting you killed countless times. For never saying Thank you. For getting mad at you for breaking my wand... For fighting with you all of sixth year over that stupid potions book... for not listening to you in fifth year. For not protecting you from that curse in the Ministry... For yelling at you at the end of the summer after fourth year... For not asking you to the Yule Ball... For picking Ron's side when you gave my Firebolt to McGonagall. For not protecting you from the Basilisk... For not protecting you from Ron's constant insults... For. Everything. Hermione. I'm sorry for everything."

Hermione was in tears when he finished but he couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not so he waited for her to give him a sign.

When she finally spoke her voice was raw and cracked, "You hurt me, Harry."

"I'm sorry."

"What am I supposed to do, just forget that you declared your love for someone else?"

"No."

"Then what, Harry?"

"I love you Hermione. But I also love Daphne. I want to be with both of you. I love both of you," replied Harry sincerely.

Hermione snorted and wiped the tears off her face, "Well isn't that just perfect. I finally find someone I love so much that it feels like I can't breath without them but they want to be with someone else."

"No, Hermione, not someone, just Daphne. Just you and Daphne."

"You know you two are perfect for each other," snapped Hermione before continuing, "She came here earlier with exactly the same proposal! Said we could share you. I suppose I should feel honored or grateful that you want me at all!"

"Hermione,"

"Do you feel sorry for me; is that it? Poor Hermione, no one else will want her so I'll keep her around?"

"NO! I love you! I want to be with you!"

"But you want to be with Daphne too?"

"Yes."

"And what if the roles were reversed Harry? What if I wanted you to share me with Neville?"

"Haven't I been," growled Harry angrily?

Hermione slapped him across the face. Hard.

"Get out of my room."

Harry stood up and said angrily, "Why is everything so fucking difficult with you, Hermione? I love you. You love me. Why isn't that enough?"

Hermione stood up on the other side of the bed and said, "It's not enough because you love someone else as well! I want your whole heart Harry, not half of it! I want all your time, not half of it! I want all your attention, not half of it!"

The lights flickered on from all the excess magic in the air and Harry got a good look at Hermione. She was in a tank top and underwear and he could see the bruises on her arms and her hip that Ron was so mad about. Harry forgot what they were arguing about and stormed around the bed, towards Hermione. He must have looked quite angry because Hermione backed away from him into the wall, as if she was scared of him. He stood an inch away from her and pulled her left arm out so he could look at it more closely, then the right arm, and then he dropped to his knees to look at her hip. She gasped every time he touched her and when he was finished he stood up and looked at her again. He held eye contact for quite a while before he spoke, "Never again, Hermione. Do you understand me? He will not touch you ever again. If I have to kill him with my bare hands to keep him away from you, I will, Merlin help me, I will."

Hermione crossed her arms again and started to argue, "Harry, I don't need you…"

"Hermione. He's not touching you again. That's not up for discussion. This whole mess with Daphne aside, you're my best friend. Anyone who hurts my best friend is going to have to deal with me. Do you understand? I'm not letting him near you again. Ever."

Hermione huffed and pushed past Harry to sit on the bed. She crawled under the covers and propped herself against the headboard. Then she patted the bed motioning for Harry to sit. "You don't understand Harry. It's not nearly as bad as it looks."

"Really? How so?"

"It's embarrassing," replied Hermione looking down.

"I promise I won't laugh," replied Harry seriously.

"Fine. We were in his room and things just went farther than expected. We had only ever really kissed before."

Harry was clenching his jaw and his fists and said, "I don't see how this is funny."

She glared at him and snapped, "He was rough, alright. He tore my clothes off before grabbing my arms hard and tossing me on the bed. Then he continued to be rough with me. Happy now?"

"That doesn't explain the bruises on your hip," frowned Harry.

"He held onto my hip to keep me in place," she said quietly.

"What was he doing to you that he had to keep you in place," growled Harry?

Hermione refused to answer him and he said, "Hermione, if you don't tell me, I'm going to assume he raped you. Did he rape you?"

"NO! Of course not Harry! He's not a monster, Jesus. He just likes to be rough. At first I didn't mind it. To be honest, I quite liked it."

Harry gaped at her and she continued, "But then it sort of crossed that line and became painful. At the time I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't realize how painful it was. The next day, I saw all the bruises and I was bleeding so much, that I ended up going to see Madam Pomfrey. God, that was embarrassing."

"What do you mean you were bleeding?" Harry asked horrified.

"I was still sore and healing from having sex with you and well Neville was just too rough with me…"

Harry, incredulous, cut her off and asked, "You slept with him?"

"No. If you would let me finish Harry, you would know that! I didn't sleep with him. There are other ways to be rough with women, Harry."

When he just looked at her confused she hissed, "Merlin Harry. He used his fingers, all right. He was very very rough though and he held me in place by gripping my hip."

"Did you tell him he was hurting you? Did you ask him to stop?"

"No, Harry. I asked him to go harder," replied Hermione sarcastically.

"So he didn't listen to you?"

"Harry, it's just so much more complicated than that. It doesn't matter. I'm dealing with it."

"What does that mean? Of course it matters!"

"It means I'm dealing with it! I'm going to talk to him."

Harry snorted and said, "I'm sure that's going to help! He obviously has issues. He's already hurt you, why are you even bothering talking to him, just tell him it's over and walk away."

Hermione stared at him for a minute before replying deadly serious, "I could say the same about you."

Harry's jaw dropped, he was completely stunned that she said that to him. Before he could figure out how to reply she continued, "You may not have left bruises on me Harry, but you hurt me far more than Neville ever could. I love you Harry. I love you with everything I have in me. I have always put you first, put your safety and well being before my own. I did these things willingly, because I loved you, because you were my best friend. But how much am I supposed to take? How much am I supposed to forgive? You say you love me, but you act differently. If you really loved me, I wouldn't be an afterthought. I wouldn't always come second…after your broom, after Ron, after a potions book, after a wand, after Daphne. I know I love you Harry, but I'm tired of coming in second. I'm tired of never being enough for you. I'll deal with Neville because I deserve better and I know it. But I deserve better than what you're offering me too. I want it all Harry. I deserve it all. And I'm going to keep looking for it."

Harry stared at her, shocked by what she said. He could feel the tears falling down his face of their own accord. He stood unsteadily and started to walk to his room. He turned back to see she had rolled over in bed so that her back was facing him and he said quietly, "I love you Hermione and I want nothing more than to be with you but if you want to keep looking then I'll wait for you. I promise I'll be here waiting for you." He heard her sniffle before he entered his room and closed the door behind him. He slid down to the floor and thought, _fucking hell, what do I do now?_


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own Harry Potter.

The next morning Hermione awoke feeling determined. Determined to end what was going on with Neville. Determined to stop crying over Harry. Determined to stop dating Gryffindors. Determined to stop being a pushover. She showered and dressed before sending a letter off to Viktor. He had asked if she would accompany him to some big Quidditch awards ceremony next weekend and she finally decided to accept. When she left her room, she was feeling good. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans, a white shirt, black boots, and a black leather jacket and she looked slightly dangerous. She also had a spark in her eyes that was noticeable and made others wary of her. She walked through the common room without stopping to talk to anyone, only sparing Ron a tight smile.

After the door closed behind her Seamus said, "She looks pissed. I'd hate to get in her way today."

"I'm just glad she's not hunting for me right now," replied Ron.

Harry rolled his eyes and kept quiet, figuring that he was going to end up in Hermione's warpath today.

Hermione headed straight for the Great Hall to grab a quick bite to eat. On her way, others were literally moving aside to clear a path for her, as she seemed to be radiating power. When she entered the Great Hall she saw Neville and moved to sit across from him, grabbing a pastry and some juice.

Neville raised his eyebrows at her and said, "You look sexy today, beautiful."

She smiled tightly and said, "Thank you. Care to take a walk with me?"

"I'd love to."

"Great, we can go as soon as I finish my breakfast."

Neville nodded and leaned back watching her eat. She looked different today, stronger somehow, which piqued his curiosity. She didn't seem to be bothered that he was staring at her while she ate; nor did she seem to notice anyone else in the Great Hall. When she was finished she wiped her face then stood and began making her way towards the doors, not even waiting for him. She zippered her coat when she got to the doors, turning to smile at him as she pushed them open and headed outside. They walked in silence until they got to the lake, only then did she stop and turn to him to speak, but before she even got a word out he pulled her to him roughly and kissed her.

Annoyed that he had cut her off she pushed against his chest at first gently, then when he didn't stop more forcefully, finally managing to get him off of her, "What the hell, Neville!"

He chuckled, which made her even angrier, and asked, "What's got your knickers in a twist today, beautiful?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "You do!"

He stared at her for a minute before he said, "Really? What have I done?"

Flustered that things weren't going how she planned she actually stomped her foot and said, "Look, Neville, I came out here to talk to you. I've decided that we're just not a good match."

He crossed his arms and said, "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"You didn't seem to think that the other night when I was giving you an incredible orgasm," he replied coldly.

Hermione blushed and said, "Yes, well, since then I've done some thinking and I don't think it's going to work out between us."

"Really?"

"Will you stop saying that!" snapped Hermione.

He moved closer to her and grabbed her arms forcefully then growled, "I think you're full of shit, beautiful. I think you're scared of what I made you feel. I think you're afraid to let someone else take control. I think you want me to fuck you senseless, don't you beautiful?"

Hermione was somewhat spellbound by him and could feel her resolve breaking. She shook her head and tried to pull away from him but he refused to let her go. "Neville let go of me."

"Not until you admit it."

"I'm not admitting anything!" yelled Hermione pulling hard against him.

He refused to let go and pulled her roughly towards him again, "Just admit it beautiful, you want me to fuck you right here, don't you!"

"No!"

Neville tightened his grip on her and kissed her aggressively. When she tried to push him away, he refused, so she bit him. "Fuck!" he swore as Hermione pried herself from his grip. He wiped the blood off his mouth and looked murderously at Hermione, "What the fuck was that!"

"I told you NO! Or didn't you fucking hear me?" screamed Hermione!

Neville narrowed his eyes and moved towards her, but Hermione pulled her wand out and leveled it at him, "I think that's close enough."

"Fine. You want to stop seeing me, fine. But, you're not going to get what you need from Potter or Weasley. You know you need someone else to take control. You got off on it! So go ahead see other people, Merlin knows you'll be crawling back to me soon enough."

Hermione just gaped at him as he stormed past her nearly knocking her down. She stared after him in shock until she was broken out of her trance…

"You alright?"

Hermione spun around to see who was so close to her, pointing her wand at Blaise's throat instinctively. He held up his hands in surrender and she lowered her wand and said, "Sorry."

"It's my fault, I shouldn't have snuck up on you," replied Blaise shrugging.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was flying and I noticed you two were fighting so I came closer just in case you needed to be rescued," replied Blaise smiling.

"How very Gryffindor of you," said Hermione raising her eyebrows at him while putting her wand away.

"Don't tell anyone, or I'll never hear the end of it."

Hermione laughed and said, "Your secret is safe with me."

He nodded and said, "So, care to enlighten me why Longbottom was manhandling you?"

"Because he's a dick," replied Hermione without thinking. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand and said, "I can't believe I just said that!"

Blaise laughed and replied, "Your secret is safe with me." He paused for a minute then asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Hermione shrugged and said, "There's not much to say. I wanted to end things and he disagreed."

"Right. So… now you're just dating Potter?"

Hermione snorted and said, "No. Harry wants me to share him with Daphne. As if. Neville wants to control me. No thanks. Ron wants to marry me so I can stay home and have a dozen kids. Definitely NO. I think I'm done dating Gryffindors for a while."

Blaise chuckled and said, "I like that plan. I know a fetchingly handsome Slytherin that would like nothing more than to take you out and show you a fantastic time."

"Do you now?" Hermione teased.

Blaise turned towards her and said, "I do. Would you care to take me up on that offer?"

"I'd love to," replied Hermione smiling.

"Fabulous. Now, when would you like this superior wizard to take you out?" he asked, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Well, I have plans next weekend but the following weekend is still open," flirted Hermione.

"Perfect. It's a date. I shall fetch you promptly at seven in the evening one week from Friday," replied Blaise formally, before taking her hand and kissing it.

Hermione giggled in response and Blaise asked, "Are you heading back inside?"

She shrugged and said, "To be honest, I don't really want to."

He looked at her curiously and asked, "Do you like flying?"

"Heavens, No."

He nodded and said, "How about a walk around the grounds then?"

She smiled and replied, "That sounds perfect."

Blaise held out his arm for Hermione to take and they spent the next few hours walking around and getting to know each other. When they finally headed back inside, Hermione was in a considerably better mood. The common room was filled with her housemates Seamus, Dean, Ron, Draco, Pansy, Pavarti and Tracey. Since it was the weekend and everyone seemed to be laughing and having a good time, she settled in on one of the couches between Blaise and Draco and was quickly handed a Butter beer by Ron. After a while Seamus said, "I'm bored."

There was agreement amongst the group and Tracey suggested, "We could go to Hogsmeade."

"No, it's too cold outside," replied Pansy.

"We could play that game again, I never," suggested Draco.

There was some consensus but Hermione said, "How about a different game?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and she continued, "Well, there are several games that we could sort of roll into one. I'll explain each of them and then let me know if you're in. The classic is spin the bottle; everyone sits on the floor in a circle and the bottle is placed in the middle. Someone spins the bottle and whoever it lands on is who that person has to kiss."

There was laughter and lots of agreement so Hermione continued, "Another classic is Truth or Dare; each person picks someone and gives them a choice of truth or dare, but once you pick you have to follow through. So if I picked truth and you asked me if I was secretly hoping to bed Pansy, I would have to answer truthfully." Everyone laughed and she added, "The same goes for a Dare, if I dare you to run naked through the Gryffindor dorms, you would have to do it. Everyone has to go and everyone has to do at least one truth and one dare. Understand?"

They all nodded and she continued, "So the last game is a little more risqué, it's called 7 minutes in heaven. Basically you spin the bottle again but this time whoever it lands on you have to spend 7 minutes in a closet snogging or more, depending on how much you're enjoying yourself."

"I love it," replied Draco smirking.

"Right but remember, this is for whoever it lands on, whether I land on Tracey or Blaise, I still have to follow through," added Hermione.

"Wait, so I'd have to spend 7 minutes snogging Malfoy!" choked out Ron horrified.

"Yes."

"I don't know," said Ron uneasily.

"Are you a Gryffindor or not," scoffed Seamus.

Ron scowled and said, "Fine."

Hermione looked around and said, "So, she would do a combination of all of them? Spinning the bottle so that everyone has to do one of each; kissing, truth, dare, and 7 minutes in heaven?"

Everyone happily agreed and Tracey said, "Is it alright if I go get Daphne and Harry? I think it's going to be a lot of fun!" They all looked to Hermione and she shrugged and said, "Why are you looking at me? I don't care."

She nodded and dashed out of the common room to go collect them out of Daphne's room.

"What about Neville and Theo?" asked Dean.

"Neville went out a little while ago," replied Seamus.

"Theo went out as well, he had a date with a Ravenclaw," replied Draco.

Hermione got up and started moving things around to give them room and asked, "Can someone work on the closet?"

Pansy said, "I'm on it."

Ron added, "We're going to need more to drink. Does anyone have any firewhisky?"

Blaise, Seamus, Dean, all said, "Yeah," and went to their rooms to retrieve it.

Harry, Daphne and Tracey then came into the room and watched the flurry of activity.

Hermione was busy moving things so Harry approached her and said, "Hey, what's going on?"

She looked at him briefly before continuing what she was doing and replied, "We're bored so we're going to play a crazy combination of Spin the bottle, truth or dare, and 7 minutes of heaven. You in?"

Harry raised his eyebrows and said, "That's a little insane."

Hermione grinned and said, "Yes, it is."

Harry shook his head and said, "Sure, I'm in. If you don't mind?"

"Not at all Harry. You're still my best friend, you know, even if I am still pissed at you," replied Hermione quickly.

He nodded and said, "Do you need any help?"

"No, I think that's about as good as it's going to get. Pansy, how's the closet coming?"

"Done," smirked Pansy.

"And the Firewhisky?"

"Got it!" yelled Ron levitating several bottles and shot glasses in front of him.

"Great. Alright, everyone sit on the floor in a circle. Try and sit witch, wizard, witch, etc. Tracey, did you explain the rules to Harry and Daphne?"

"No, she didn't," replied Daphne.

Hermione smiled and said, "OK. First you spin the bottle and whoever it lands on gets to choose one of four things that they want to do, snogging, truth, dare, or 7 minutes in the closet. If you pick the closet then at the very least you must snog the whole time but you'll probably end up doing more. Each person has to do one of each and once you've done one you cannot pick it again. You also can't back out. You have to do it. No matter who the bottle lands on you have to do it, whether the person be the same sex or the opposite sex."

Harry grumbled and rubbed his face warily but didn't say anything.

"Everyone clear on the rules?" asked Hermione holding up her full shot glass.

They all nodded and followed Hermione by gulping down their first shot.

"Who's going first?" asked Hermione.

"You go first," said Ron and everyone agreed.

Hermione nodded, took a deep breath then spun the bottle, waiting to see who it landed on…

Ron.

He grinned and said, "Come here you," leaning towards the center of the circle where Hermione met him grinning as well. He wrapped his hand in her hair and proceeded to snog her senseless for a good minute making everyone chuckle and whistle. When she finally pulled away she was flushed and quickly sat back down and patted the person's leg to her right letting them know they should go. It was Dean and he spun quickly and it landed on…

Harry.

He made a face and said, "Truth!"

Dean laughed and said, "Coward," pausing for a moment to think of something. "Alright, I got something. How many witches have given you blowjobs?"

Harry glared at him as he thought about it finally saying, "Five."

Hermione didn't look at him and said, "Alright, Tracey it's your turn now."

She nodded and spun the bottle and it landed on…

Pansy.

Pansy raised her eyebrow at Tracey and leaned into the circle making Tracey grin. She met her halfway and began snogging her passionately, causing all the guys mouths to drop open in shock while Hermione and Daphne laughed. They separated and Tracey said, "Your turn Seamus."

He shook his head and said, "Blood hell that was hot," before spinning. The bottled landed on…

Draco.

"Ew. I'm not snogging you Finnegan. Truth."

Seamus showed him his middle finger and sneered, "Alright, Malfoy, what was the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you."

"Prick." Replied Draco before saying, "Fourth year. Being turned into a Ferret."

The Gryffindors all roared in laughter while even the Slytherins snickered at his response.

Pavarti grabbed the bottle and spun it. It settled on Seamus. He grinned and leaned towards her for a quick snog.

Next was Blaise who spun the bottle and it landed on Hermione. She smiled at him and thought for a minute, making everyone wait for her choice. Slowly she moved towards the center of the circle and he grinned like a Cheshire cat, swooping in and wrapping her in his arms as he kissed her hungrily. After a minute Ron said, "That's enough!" just as Harry was clearing his throat. Blaise finally released her and smirked as she blushed and moved back to her spot. Harry and Ron both glared at Blaise as Pansy spun the bottle and it landed on Dean. He quickly surprised her with a sensual kiss.

It was Draco's turn now and he spun the bottle, watching as it landed on Daphne. Harry clenched his jaw but said nothing as he waited for Daphne's response. "Dare," she said surprising everyone.

Draco raised his eyebrows at her and looked around trying to think of something good. His eyes settled on Hermione and he grinned devilishly making her squirm, "Draco," she started but he cut her off and said, "Daphne, I dare you to snog Granger for 5 minutes."

Hermione groaned internally but met Daphne's gaze. She stood up as did Daphne and they moved to the couch. Harry was in complete shock as he watched the two girls he loved slowly reach for each other. Hermione put her hand on the back of Daphne's neck while Daphne threaded her hands through Hermione's hair. They started off tentatively, keeping their eyes open, and then as the kiss grew in passion, they closed their eyes. After a few minutes, several of the guys actually groaned and Harry was positive he had never been so fucking turned on in his life. He had to keep reminding himself that this was actually happening and it wasn't just a dream. It was all he could do to keep from joining them. "Bloody fucking hell," gasped Ron as Daphne suddenly pulled Hermione closer so the girls were virtually sitting in each other's laps. Hermione started to slide her hands down Daphne's arms to her legs and began running them up her thighs finally settling one hand on Daphne's ass and the other on her upper thigh. The girls seemed to have forgotten they had an audience as they moved more frantically and began moaning.

"Fuck," said Seamus and there were many grunts of agreement.

"Time," said Pansy gruffly as she was the one that set a timer with her wand.

The girls didn't stop and Draco laughed and said, "Daphne, Granger, you're 5 minutes are over." They pulled apart but looked at each other curiously before getting up and moving back to the circle. One glance at Harry showed how obviously turned on he was.

"Alright, I'll say it. That was fucking hot," added Tracey to break the tension. Everyone laughed and Ron picked the game back up and spun the bottle.

To be continued….


	14. Chapter 14

I do not own Harry Potter.

Author's note: A few racy scenes…you've been warned.

Ron spun the bottle and it landed on Blaise who smirked and said, "Sorry, Weasley, you're just not my type. I'll have to go with Dare."

Ron seemed genuinely surprised by his choice and spent several minutes trying to think of an embarrassing dare for Blaise. The only problem was he didn't really know much about Blaise so he really had no idea how to embarrass him. Everyone started drinking again to pass the time and after five minutes Blaise said, "Merlin, Weasley its not that hard, just come up with something."

Annoyed Ron made a face and said, "Fine. I dare you to strip and play the rest of the game in your boxers."

Blaise rolled his eyes and stood up, smirking he said, "Who said I wore boxers?" He started to take his clothes off and winked at Ron as he did.

Seamus snorted and said, "Oi! Ron, what the hell! I don't want to look at his skinny arse all night! You're supposed to ask one of the witches to strip and play in their panties not a bloke!"

Everyone laughed and Ron turned a violent shade of red in embarrassment.

"Weasley, that's not a dare! Blaise is the only bloke I know that's more conceited than I am about how he looks buck naked," added Malfoy.

"That's because I know I'm better looking than you, Draco." Blaise tossed his clothes aside and took a bow for everyone. He had tight red Speedo type underwear on and his body was quite toned. He winked at Hermione and said, "What do you lovely ladies think, am I hot or what?"

They all laughed and Pavarti stood up to move closer to him. He quirked his eyebrow at her and as she reached out to touch his completely smooth chest he smirked and said, "No touching."

She pouted and said, "Please?"

"Oh, all right," Blaise, sighed dramatically.

Pavarti ran her hand tentatively across his chest and cooed, "Your skin is so soft… and smooth."

"I know isn't it," replied Pansy before adding, "I swear it's smoother than my legs. Blaise you have to tell me how you get it so smooth."

"Hermione would know," replied Blaise cryptically.

Confused she furrowed her brow before suddenly saying, "You wax, don't you?"

He grinned and nodded and several people asked, "What's that?"

"It's a muggle hair removing method. You pour hot wax on the hair, let it cool then rip it off quickly. It rips the hair out with it. Last for a long time too," replied Hermione casually.

"Merlin's saggy balls, you pour hot wax on your chest and pull out the hair," asked Ron incredulously?

"I don't do it myself, I go to a muggle spa and have a beautiful lady do it for me," replied Blaise.

There were several snickers from the guys but Blaise said, "Laugh all you want, but I'm telling you the witches love it."

The guys looked around to see all of the girls nodding in agreement and Hermione said, "May I?" moving towards him.

He grinned and nodded and she ran her hand across his chest, shocking both Harry and Ron when she said, "It does feel amazing. You know I think Pansy's right; your chest is much smoother than my legs. See, feel." She said pulling up her jeans on her left leg.

Blaise grinned mischievously and bent down completely so that his face was inches from her leg. He ran his hand up and down her exposed leg a few times, smiling up at her. He quickly kissed her calf then said, "I don't know, I think your leg is pretty damn smooth, Granger."

She blushed and stepped away from him moving back to her seat. Harry and Ron looked at her incredulously but she just shrugged in response. Blaise sat back down and said, "Greengrass, it's your turn."

She smiled and said, "Right," then spun the bottle, watching it land on Draco. She felt Harry tense next to her and turned to see him clenching his jaw, _interesting_, she thought. Draco noticed as well and smirked before standing up making Daphne nervous. He moved towards her like he was stalking his prey and when he reached her he knelt down in front of her, uncomfortably close to both her and Harry. He then slowly closed the space between them and wrapped one hand behind her neck and the other around her waist, pulling her up onto her knees. She squeaked in surprise and Draco used that moment to attack her mouth. He kissed her heatedly, practically dominating her. He felt movement beside them and opened his eyes to look at Harry. He continued to devour Daphne while keeping eye contact with Harry, who was quickly becoming furious. Draco stopped after another minute, ran his finger across his lips then winked at Harry before going back to his spot. Harry was breathing heavily and he could feel Hermione holding his arm just in case he tried to attack Draco. He looked down at her hand on his arm surprised. He met her gaze and she seemed shocked that she was holding him as well. She quickly let go and moved away from him and drank a quick shot of firewhisky. Harry noticed that Daphne did the same on his other side.

"Your turn now Potter," said Malfoy smirking.

Harry took a deep breath before downing a shot of firewhisky and spinning the bottle. It landed on Tracey, who smiled deviously before she said, "Sorry, Daphne but I want to see what your boy's made of."

Several people laughed and Harry looked at Daphne curiously to see that she was amused. Sighing in relief, he got up, as Tracey held out her hand for him to stand. He moved in to kiss her but she shook her head and said, "Oh no Potter. I'm getting my money's worth with you!"

He looked at her confused and she pulled him towards the makeshift closet that Pansy transfigured for the game, making Pansy shriek in hysterics and Daphne yell, "He's only on loan Tracey, I get him back!" Tracey winked at Daphne in response before pulling a suddenly shy Harry into the closet and shutting the door.

Pansy jumped up and ran to the door, waving her wand and muttering spells until what was happening inside was projected out onto the wall of the common room. Then she cast more spells amplifying the sound.

"Pansy! What are you doing?" gasped Daphne quietly.

"They can't hear us Daphne, you don't need to whisper. And I'm simply making this much more entertaining for the rest of us. Now be quiet, I'm trying to enjoy the show!"

Everyone chuckled as they moved closer to see what was going on. "You know this isn't going to seem so entertaining when we're the ones in the closet," added Blaise.

They all nodded or shrugged but no one suggested they _**not**_ watch.

Tracey had pushed Harry up against the wall and he said jokingly, "I can't help but feel you're just using me because of who I am Tracey."

"Damn right I am Potter. Well that and the fact that you and Draco just totally turned me on."

Harry looked at her surprised and tried to say something else but she said, "Enough talk, Potter," and moved in for the kill. She threaded both of her hands through his hair and pulled, making him gasp and giving her the opportunity that she wanted. She plundered his mouth and he responded, but only tentatively, as if he was just going through the motions.

Determined to see the real Harry Potter in action she took one of her hands and dragged her nails slowly down the front of his body while still kissing him. She didn't stop when she reached the top of his pants but continued until she was over his manhood. She then squeezed gently and began rubbing him up and down over his jeans. He moaned softly and she smirked knowing she was getting closer. She moved to his earlobe and began licking, sucking, and nipping at it. Then she moved to the soft spot underneath it and trailed her way down his neck all while continuing to rub him.

Harry bucked his hips involuntarily and Tracey smirked before she pulled his shirt up partly so that she could suck on his right nipple. He groaned loudly and wrapped his arms around her. She moved her hand faster and started swirling her tongue around the nipple then suddenly bit it making him buck hard and growl. He quickly spun them so she was pushed up against the wall and kissed her fiercely. He removed her hand from the front of his pants and ground into her wantonly. She moaned and moved her right leg up to try and pull him closer by wrapping it around him but he was taller than her so it didn't work.

Understanding what she wanted he brought both his hands to her ass and squeezed before lifting her up, allowing her to wrap her legs completely around his waist. She broke away from the kiss and he attacked her neck as he pumped her into the wall, making her moan loudly. This was exactly what she wanted to experience, the full force of a completely turned on Harry Potter.

"How long do they have left?" asked Hermione quietly. She was having a really hard time not getting turned on by watching them. She glanced at Daphne and noticed she seemed to be fighting the same battle.

Pansy waved her wand and a clock appeared above the closet door, it showed 3:30 and was counting down 3:29…3:28…3:27. Everyone continued to watch, fascinated with what was happening and wondering what else was going to happen with a little over 3 minutes left.

Harry moved his right hand up Tracey's shirt and she purred in delight as he fondled her breasts. He quickly pulled her shirt up and pushed her bra down to attack her nipple. He licked and sucked and pulled at it with his teeth for a bit while he moved his hand down to her pants. He moved his hips a couple inches away from her and quickly began rubbing her with his hand over her jeans, causing her to moan and squirm until she couldn't take it anymore and dropped her legs down from around his waist to give him better access.

Harry looked at her for a brief second before unbuttoning her jeans and slowly sliding his hand down inside. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall, holding onto one of his shoulders. He began rubbing her and swirling his middle finger just outside where she wanted him. She growled and slid her hand down her jeans on top of his and moved him. He chuckled and said, "You're very impatient, Tracey."

As soon as she attempted to respond he quickly thrust in her and she moaned loudly, "Yesss."

He pulled her face towards him with his left hand and snogged her senseless as he picked up the pace with his right hand. He wasn't sure how much time was left and he wanted her to finish. He moved his thumb in circles and added another finger inside her, moving them roughly in and out of her.

Tracey gasped and broke the kiss, quickly becoming overwhelmed by the sensations.

Harry knew she was close so he decided to take a risk and talk dirty to her. He was very quiet, whispering in her ear, not wanting anyone to hear what he was saying to her. "I wish I had more time Tracey because if I did, I would fuck you properly. Right here, against the wall, with your clothes hanging off of you. I'd fuck you so hard, over and over again, until you couldn't walk. What do you think of that?"

"Mmm…hmm," moaned Tracey.

"What's he saying? Can anyone hear him?" demanded Seamus straining to hear. They all shook their heads no and moved closer straining to hear without success…

In an even softer yet sexier voice he continued whispering to her, "And then maybe someone else would come in here with us and instead of fucking you into the wall, I'd fuck you into them."

Tracey's eyes flew open and met his as she gasped, "… ahhhhh …"

"Did anyone hear what he said?" asked Malfoy curious. They all shook their heads no again.

Harry knew she was almost there and he remembered what she said when she pulled him in here, so he continued, soft enough so that he was still unheard by the others, "Maybe it would be Malfoy that was behind you, sucking on your neck and fucking you from behind while I fucked you from the front and sucked on your tits. Both of us… In and out …and… in and out…"

She squealed, "yessss!" and shuddered in his arms.

Harry smothered her squeals with a passionate kiss, removing his hand from her pants so that he could grind against her again. He was so fucking turned on from watching her that he quickly reached his orgasm, moaning into her mouth.

"Sweet Merlin," said Pansy impressed and several others nodded in agreement.

Malfoy looked up at the clock and said, "Not bad, the bastard still had 30 seconds left."


	15. Chapter 15

I do not own Harry Potter.

Harry stayed snug against Tracey while he got his breathing under control. He felt her start to giggle and moved his head slightly to look at her, "What are you giggling about?" he asked her curiously.

She brought her lips to his ear and whispered, "That was pretty damn amazing."

He grinned widely and said, "Yeah, it was." He moved away from her somewhat and groaned looking down at his pants before he said, "But now I feel quite sticky."

She outright laughed at him, holding onto his arm for support as she held her stomach before she said, "Here, let me help you." She pointed her wand at him and before he could stop her she had cleaned him up.

"You know, I'm not really comfortable with someone pointing a wand at that part of me."

She bit her lip and said, "Oh, sorry."

"It's alright, I feel better now. So, thank you."

"Would you care to reciprocate then we can be even?" she asked sexily?

He looked at her for a second in confusion so she said, "The spells, silly. Can you do the spells on me? You're not the only one that feels sticky."

He blushed and nodded, quickly performing the same spells on her.

"Thank you," replied Tracey fixing her clothes and hair so they looked less rumpled then she started fixing Harry as well. When she was all finished, she ran her hands through his hair one last time and said, "Time to return you to Daphne. After all you were only on loan to me."

He kissed her cheek before opening the door and leaving the closet with her. The bright lights took a minute to get used to and they looked at each other in confusion as they were inundated with a lot of noise, whistling, howling, hooting, and the like. When their eyes adjusted they finally noticed the wall that had an inside view of the closet and they turned beet red in embarrassment. Tracey buried her head in his chest and he wrapped his arms around her protectively. He glared half heartedly at the others before he said, "Alright, you've had your fun now move along."

They all chuckled at him and started to move back towards the floor where they were all previously sitting.

Daphne came over and asked, "So Tracey, what do you think?"

"Daphne!" gasped Tracey

"What? He's good, isn't he?"

Tracey was blushing profusely and said, "Yes, alright. Are you done humiliating me now?"

Daphne looked at her sternly before saying, "I suppose," causing Tracey to rush away from them.

Harry asked, "Did you watch us the whole time?"

"Yeah. It was Pansy's idea. We could hear you to, well except at the end when you were whispering to Tracey. What were you saying to her, I wonder?"

"That's between Tracey and I, Daph. No offense."

She shrugged and said, "I figured you weren't going to tell me but it was worth a shot."

Hermione came over and said, "Hey, Mr. Big shot, you still in the game?"

"Of course," replied Harry.

"Just checking, as a few people have decided to chicken out now that they know what's waiting for them," said Hermione loudly so that those leaving could hear her.

Just then the common room door opened and Neville came in with Hannah behind him. They were laughing and holding hands and didn't seem to notice they common room was full for a minute.

Harry looked at Hermione curiously, wondering how she was going to react but she turned and walked away from him so he couldn't see. He looked at Ron to see he was watching Neville closely. The group became silent and Neville said, "Hannah why don't you go ahead, I'll be right there."

She nodded and walked past everyone to Neville's bedroom. When they heard the door close, Ron asked, "I thought you were with Hermione?"

Neville crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows at Hermione but before she could say anything Blaise said, "No, she dumped his ass this morning."

There was some snickering as both Ron and Harry looked at Hermione, who refused to meet their gazes.

"Fuck off Zabini," snapped Neville. He then strode over to Hermione, quickly entering her personal space making her take several steps back until she was backed against the wall. She was extremely nervous but she tried to hide it and said, "Yes, Neville?"

He put his arms on either side of her head and moved in to kiss her. She quickly turned her head to the side to avoid the kiss. "I'm sorry about earlier, beautiful. Can you forgive me?"

She began pushing against his chest to get away and he growled at her in response.

Suddenly, Blaise was right next to them and had a wand digging into Neville's throat, "I don't believe I want to see a repeat of this morning, Longbottom."

Neville glared at Blaise and reluctantly stepped away from Hermione. Blaise dropped the wand and said, "Now, why don't you go where you're wanted, because it's certainly not here."

Neville clenched his fists in anger but decided to turn and storm out of the room instead of responding.

Blaise turned to Hermione and said, "You alright?"

She stiffened and said, "I'm fine. But I don't need protecting Blaise, I could have handled that."

He snorted and said, "You could not have handled that; you couldn't even reach your wand!"

Hermione huffed and said, "There are other ways to defend yourself!"

Blaise rolled his eyes then said seriously, "Hermione, you need to watch out for him. He's not all there. One of these days Longbottom's going to catch you off guard; then what are you going to do? He's bigger than you and he's stronger than you, and if you don't have your wand, he's **going** to win."

Hermione scoffed but before she could reply Ron said loudly, "Hello, is anyone going to tell us what happened this morning? Hermione, were you planning on telling us you broke up with Neville?"

She was surprised by Ron's outburst, having forgotten that anyone else was there. She shrugged and said, "Ron, I broke things off with Neville this morning. Happy now?"

He looked at her incredulously and Harry asked, "Did he do something this morning when you broke it off?"

Hermione glared at Harry and said coldly, "That Harry, is none of your business."

Harry looked at her, obviously hurt by her response, and started, "Hermione," but she cut him off and yelled, "No, Harry. Don't you dare try and guilt me! Don't. You. Dare. It's none of your fucking business what happened between Neville and I!"

Surprised at the venom in her tone, he simply nodded in response, not sure what else to do.

Draco cleared his throat and said, "As much as I love discussing Longbottom's psychopath tendencies, can we get back to the game?"

There was some chuckling and those remaining sat back down (Dean, Seamus, Pavarti and Pansy had all gone to bed). They started drinking again and Draco said, "It's your turn Hermione."

She nodded and spun the bottle, which landed on Draco, who grinned mischievously. She steeled herself for his choice, which came quickly, "7 Minutes in Heaven Granger."

Hermione smiled meekly and got up slowly, hesitantly following him to the closet, she looked back at Ron and Harry before entering the closet. The look was familiar somehow but he wasn't sure exactly what it meant. He did notice that Harry was clenching his fists and standing right outside the door. They all turned to watch what was happening inside…

Hermione was backed up against the wall and Draco was closing in on her. Harry and Ron realized what the look meant at the same time and both turned to the door to open it when Hermione let out an anguished cry. They threw the door open and Ron grabbed Malfoy and pulled him out as Harry went for Hermione. She was sobbing and slid down to the floor. Harry wrapped her in his arms and said, "Shhh, it's alright Hermione. I'm right here. I promise no one's going to hurt you. Never again Hermione... Never. Again."

She clutched at his chest and pulled him tighter around her in response, still sobbing uncontrollably.

Harry looked up at Ron and they communicated silently.

Draco, horrified that he had done this, asked, "Is she alright? What did I do?"

"I don't think you did anything but you must have reminded her of what happened at your house. She must have felt trapped. It took us a minute to figure out that she gave us that look before Bellatrix tortured her," replied Ron quietly.

"Shit, I should have known," replied Draco concerned.

"Did you say that Bellatrix Lestrange tortured her?" asked Daphne shocked.

Ron looked at her and then Draco questioningly and said, "Yeah, didn't you know?"

She shook her head and said, "No."

Ron looked at Draco surprised and Draco said, "It's not something I go around talking about Weasley. Bloody hell, I still have nightmares about it myself."

Ron nodded then went into the closet and bent down in front of Harry and Hermione and said, "Hermione, why don't we call it a night."

She nodded in Harry's neck and Harry said, "I'm going to pick you up now, and take you to your room. Alright, love?"

She nodded again and Harry stood slowly with her in his arms before leaving the closet and heading towards her room. She let out a strangled, "Ron!" as they went. He quickly caught up and the three of them entered Hermione's room, closing, locking and silencing it to everyone.

"Bloody hell Draco, what happened at your house to scare her that much?" asked Blaise.

Draco sighed heavily and replied, "Potter and Weasley were locked in the dungeons and she was tortured. Horribly. My Aunt was brutal to her. I can still hear her screams in my head, still see her blood pooling on the floor when I close my eyes."

"Merlin," gasped Daphne.

"How did they get away?" asked Blaise.

"Potter and Weasley broke out of the dungeons. Honestly, I think they would have broken down the gates of hell to rescue her. The only other thing I could hear besides her screams were theirs. They were screaming their bloody heads off while she was being tortured. Anyway, they came up and dueled my parents and I until my Aunt put a knife to Hermione's throat. They put their wands down at that point but Potter's elf came and rescued them. Crazy elf dropped a chandelier over where my Aunt and Hermione were standing. Hermione was able to get away at that point and the elf took them all out of the manor."

"Bloody Hell," said Blaise horrified.

They all nodded in agreement and began cleaning up the common room.

Back in Hermione's room, Harry put her down on the bed gently and tried to stand up but she wouldn't let go of him, so he settled down next to her. Ron stood near the bed until she reached out a hand for him and then he settled behind her, wrapping one arm over her. Harry was in front of her and he was holding her as she sobbed into his chest. It was heartbreaking for both Harry and Ron to see her this way. After what seemed like forever but was probably only a half an hour, Hermione fell asleep snuggled safely between Ron and Harry. She was gasping and sniffling in her sleep still though.

"Blimey," said Ron rolling onto his back on the left side of Hermione.

"Yeah," replied Harry sighing heavily and rolling onto his back on the right side of Hermione.

She unconsciously moved so that she was touching both of them, her hand reached out to grab Harry and her leg moved back to touch Ron. They both looked at her to see if she had woken but she was still asleep.

"We should have figured it out quicker," said Harry guiltily.

"I know but I think all that Firewhisky slowed my brain down," replied Ron.

Harry nodded and said, "I don't want to leave her tonight."

"Me neither."

"Let's just stay here with her. I'd rather she be mad at us in the morning for staying than let her wake up scared and alone in the middle of the night," said Harry.

"Alright," agreed Ron.

They both took turns changing and then noticed Hermione was still in her clothes. She did not look very comfortable but Ron and Harry didn't know what to do.

"What does she usually sleep in?" asked Ron looking to Harry.

Harry shrugged and Ron gave him a look that he wasn't buying his answer. He sighed and said, "I don't know, the few times I've slept with her this year, she's been naked."

Ron clenched his jaw and said, "Right. Well, I don't think she'll appreciate waking up naked in bed with both of us in the morning."

"No. What if we just vanish her top and bottoms, but leave her bra and panties on?" replied Harry uncomfortably.

"I guess that will work. It's got to be more comfortable than sleeping in her clothes," said Ron shifting from side to side nervously.

"Here goes nothing," said Harry quietly before pointing his wand at Hermione and vanishing her outer layer of clothes.

They both groaned when they saw the sexy white lace lingerie she was wearing underneath.

Harry shifted and said, "Right. Now we can cover her with the blankets and go to sleep."

"Right," replied Ron nodding in agreement.

They both stood still though, as if they were afraid to move. After a minute they looked at each other and smiled sheepishly, chuckling out loud.

"She's quite beautiful," said Ron wistfully as they moved together to pull the blankets out from under Hermione.

"She's perfect," replied Harry getting into bed beside her and pulling the blankets over them.

Ron settled in on her other side and said, "Night, Harry."

"Night, Ron."


	16. Chapter 16

I do not own Harry Potter.

Harry woke feeling suffocated. It felt like a truck was sitting on his chest. Panicked he opened his eyes but his face was covered in hair. Completely confused, Harry moved the hair out of his face and saw the reason for his suffocation. Hermione was lying mostly on top of him and Ron was snuggled against her, so both of their weights were resting on Harry's chest. Struggling he managed to move out from under them just enough so that he could breathe properly again. He turned on his side facing them and watched them sleep for several minutes. Ron shifted in his sleep so that he was placing more weight directly on Hermione and she started to stir. She groggily opened her eyes and seemed surprised to see Harry looking back at her. She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to escape from under Ron's weight. He mumbled incoherently when she was finally free but just turned over and faced the other way, going straight back to sleep. Hermione sat up, trying to catch her breath for a minute before she looked back to Harry and asked, "Why are we all in the same bed?"

Harry wondered how much she drank last night before he replied quietly, "Ron and I didn't want to leave you alone. We didn't want you to wake up scared after what happened."

She brought her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes for a minute, obviously trying to remember what happened last night and he knew she did when she suddenly gasped. He watched her fight back tears before she lay back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. It took her a few minutes before she felt sure she wasn't going to cry before she whispered, "Thank you."

Harry nodded and said sincerely, "I'll always be here for you Hermione. No matter what."

She sighed then rolled over on her side to face him before asking, "What are we doing Harry?"

He frowned, not really understanding the question, so she clarified, "I love you. You say you love me. Ron says he loves me. I definitely care for him too. I'm going around trying to cross off this blasted list when you and Ron are the only two I really feel comfortable with." She sighed before continuing, "I mean I know my Mum was worried that I would never experience love if I stayed with what was comfortable but maybe that's not a bad thing. Maybe, after all we've been through, our bond is just too strong to break."

Harry reached out with his right hand and brushed his thumb across her cheek before he said, "I know. I feel like I've been so confused lately. I mean I think I love Daphne, but last night when you were scared my only thought was to hold you and take care of you. This whole thing you had with Neville made me crazy. The thought of someone else touching you made my skin crawl, plus add to that the bruises, and I felt like a lunatic."

They felt Ron shift as he rolled onto his back. "What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"No idea," replied Harry.

"How are you feeling Hermione?" he asked tentatively.

"Better. Thank you Ron for staying with me."

Ron just grunted in response before asking, "What are you guys talking about?"

Hermione snorted and replied, "Just what a mess we've made of everything."

Ron chuckled and said, "Yeah, things have gotten a bit complicated. Harry's in love with a bloody Slytherin and I'm dating several witches and you're dating Neville who seems to have turned into a maniac overnight."

They all laughed for a few minutes before Hermione sighed and said, "I'm not seeing Neville anymore, I ended that yesterday. In fact, I have a date with Viktor next weekend then one with Blaise the following week. And what's this about you dating several witches? Do tell!"

"Krum, really? Honestly, Hermione, I don't know what you see in that bloke," huffed Ron.

Hermione looked at him incredulously and Harry snorted, "Oh please, Ron, you're his biggest fan!"

Hermione laughed and Ron sulked.

"So where are you and Viktor going next weekend?" asked Harry trying to hide his irrational anger.

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Apparently, some big Quidditch awards show. I imagine it's going to be quite boring."

Ron scoffed, "Are you bloody serious? You're going to be there? With all the professional Quidditch players?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders and said, "I guess. It sounds like more aggravation than it's worth though. Viktor said it was very formal so I have to go buy a fancy dress and all that. I don't know what I was thinking when I said yes."

Harry laughed and said, "Hermione, do you have any idea what people would do for a chance to go to this event? It's impossible to get tickets to. You're literally going to be surrounded by the best Quidditch players in the world, both past and present."

She turned to him and said, "Perhaps you should go as Viktor's date … you would probably be much better company than me."

Ron snorted and said, "I don't think Harry has a formal dress to wear."

"Ha Ha Ha," replied Harry.

"Enough about that, Ron, you still haven't answered my question about who you're dating!"

Ron chuckled and said, "Well, I've been seeing Pavarti for the last month, off and on, and then I started dating Susan a few weeks ago, and this last week I went out on a date with…with…"

"With who?" asked Hermione curious?

Ron sighed, rubbed his face then blurted out, "Pansy."

Hermione shrieked and Harry laughed causing Ron to get up and snap, "See! that's why I didn't want to tell you guys!"

Harry tried to pull himself together, but he was holding his stomach from laughing so hard and Hermione wasn't much better.

She got up and moved towards him, wrapping him in a hug before she said, "I'm sorry, Ron, I just didn't expect that. I'm happy for you, really. Did you have a good time with Pansy?"

Harry snickered but Ron just glared at him before he said, "Yeah, I actually did."

"Good. And what do Susan and Pavarti and Pansy think about you dating all of them at the same time?" asked Hermione.

Ron shrugged and said, "They don't seem to mind. I mean I'm not professing my love to any of them. I'm trying to keep things simple."

"I think that's a brilliant idea Ron," replied Hermione suddenly glaring at Harry.

Ron snorted and said, "Well, I think that's my cue to go wash up."

"What?" asked Harry confused?

"Hold on a minute Ron," said Hermione reaching out to him, "So you've dated three witches besides me since we started this list, correct?"

"Yeah," replied Ron warily.

"And I've dated three wizards besides you, plus I have dates with two more, so that is five out of six," added Hermione.

"Yeah," replied Ron still wary.

"But Harry's only dated two witches besides Ginny; me and Daphne."

"Right," replied Harry cautiously.

"Well, clearly you need to step up your game Potter. By the looks of things I'm going to have my list wrapped up by Christmas and Ron doesn't seem far behind," smirked Hermione.

Ron chuckled and said, "I'm really going to go wash up now." And he left the room before he could be pulled into their argument.

Harry looked at Hermione curiously and asked, "What do you propose I do, Hermione, break up with Daphne to date other witches?"

"Why not, it's what you did to me," snapped Hermione angrily crossing her arms.

Harry clenched his jaw and said, "No, it's not. I told you I wanted to be with you. You made the decision not to be with me."

Hermione snorted and said, "Oh please Harry. You didn't say you wanted to be with me, you said you wanted to be with Daphne **and** me! You took the cowards' way out so that you didn't have to make a choice, because you knew I would say no!"

"That's not true!" yelled Harry.

"YES IT IS! At least be man enough to admit it!" yelled Hermione pushing him in the chest.

"Why is it so fucking hard for you to believe that I actually want the both of you! That I love the both of you!" roared Harry angrily grabbing her arm to stop her from pushing him further.

She ripped her arm out of his grasp and shoved him hard against the wall. "BECAUSE IT'S NOT FAIR! I fucking waited for you to notice me for years, Harry, for fucking YEARS! I stood by you through everything and I've never asked for anything in return. I finally get my chance to be with you and you fucking fall in love with someone else! IT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR!" screeched Hermione breathing heavily.

Harry was taken aback by what she said and he just stared at her for several moments, unsure what to say.

She turned away from him and wiped her face of the unwelcome tears.

Harry moved towards her and gently placed his hand on her arm but she pulled away from him instantly and angrily turned to face him.

"I...I…I don't know what to say Hermione," replied Harry dumbfounded.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and said, "Well, then I guess there's nothing left to say."

"Hermione…"

"Forget it Harry. I'm going to go take a shower," snapped Hermione heading towards her bathroom.

Harry panicked thinking this was his last chance and ran forward to grab her. He pulled her somewhat unwillingly into his arms and begged, "Hermione, please, don't walk away from me."

Hermione was pushing against him to try and get away. She knew she was going to breakdown. As she started to cry she began hitting him in the chest. "I'm… so… pissed… at you!" she sobbed punctuating each word with a whack on the chest. "Why…am…I …not…enough for you?"

Horrified, Harry pulled her tighter in his embrace and whispered, "Oh, Hermione. I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry."

She cried in his arms for a few minutes before pulling back to look in his eyes. "You love her more than me, don't you?"

Harry shook his head.

"Then why won't you pick me?" asked Hermione sobbing.

"I don't know. I didn't think. I thought I loved Daphne just as much as I loved you but now I don't know. I don't have any idea what I'm doing Hermione! I know that I love you. I've always loved you in one-way or another. But Daphne is different and new and exciting and I like how I feel when I'm with her. And maybe that's not really love but I don't want to walk away from it just yet. Do you understand?" asked Harry desperately.

"So what are you saying, that you want me to wait until you get bored with Daphne?" asked Hermione angrily.

"No. I don't know. Hermione, I'm bloody terrible with girls. You know this. Please, I do love you. I swear. When I think about my future, I see you," begged Harry.

Hermione seemed to soften at that and asked, "You do?"

Harry smiled and said, "Yeah, I do."

"Not Daphne?"

Harry shook his head No.

"Not Ginny?"

Again, he shook his head No.

She smiled tentatively and asked, "So, I'm making a big deal out of nothing?"

"No… I should have explained. I just didn't really understand it myself. I had all these feelings for Daphne and the thought of losing her made me panic. I shouldn't have made you decide. I should have told you that I wanted to see Daphne for a little while… that I wanted to figure out what was going on. I should have made it clear that at the end of all of this, I still see myself with you."

"Really?" asked Hermione looking up into his eyes hopefully.

"Really," he replied before leaning down to gently brush his lips against hers.


	17. Chapter 17

I do not own Harry Potter.

Hermione had sent Harry away so that she could get ready to go dress shopping. He seemed reluctant to leave her side but she finally convinced him she was fine. She spent a fair amount of time thinking about Draco while she was getting ready. She felt pretty bad about last night and thought she should go talk to him. She threw on a jumper, a pair of jeans and trainers before heading to his room. She passed everyone in the common room with just a smile and stood outside Draco's door. Gathering her courage she knocked on the door.

"Come in," called Draco from inside the room.

She timidly opened the door and stood in the doorway. She was fidgeting with her hands and kept looking at the floor before she finally said, "Hey."

Draco turned when the door opened and was quite shocked to see Hermione standing in his room. It took him several minutes before he collected himself and replied, "Hi." He moved closer but not too close because he didn't want to scare her. "How are you?"

Hermione bit her lip then said, "I'm alright."

He nodded and said, "Good, I'm glad."

There was an awkward silence where neither knew what to say and then they both started speaking at the same time, making them laugh.

"You go first," said Draco smiling.

Hermione nodded then said, "I'm sorry about last night, Draco. I don't know what happened. I think I had a little too much to drink and I didn't realize that I was scared until it was too late."

"I'm sorry I scared you," replied Draco quietly.

Hermione shook her head and said, "No, I don't want you to think it was you because I think it was more the feeling of being trapped that scared me."

Draco shook his head in response and said, "I'm sure I didn't help. You have every reason to be scared of me. You were trapped in my house. You were tortured in my house, in front of me, and I did nothing to help you. You should be scared of me."

Hermione met his gaze and said, "You tried to cover for Harry, Draco. You did try and help us. There was nothing you could have done for me."

"I should have tried to stop my aunt. I should have done more," replied Draco hauntingly.

Hermione shrugged and said, "I knew what I signed up for when I chose to stay with Harry. Besides, I was just a mudblood to you."

Draco raised his head and looked at her sharply before he replied, "Don't call yourself that. I've been nothing but a bastard to you from the first day I met you and I was wrong. Not just about you but wrong about everything! You're an amazing witch and I should be in a cell in Azkaban for having any part in what happened to you." Draco stopped to pull himself together as he was getting choked up.

Hermione looked at him curiously for several minutes before she said quietly, "Thank you."

Draco nodded stiffly in response.

Hermione started to leave the room but suddenly stopped and turned back and asked him, "How would you like to spend the day shopping with me?"

He looked at her questioningly and she continued, "I have to find a dress for the Quidditch awards next weekend and I could use some help."

He raised his eyebrows at her and said, "Shouldn't you ask another witch?"

Hermione shrugged and said, "No, I'd rather have a guys opinion. After all Viktor is a guy."

Draco looked at her for a minute and said, "You're serious?"

"Completely. But I have one condition," replied Hermione.

"What is it?"

"I'm not wearing dress robes. I want to wear a muggle dress. I'm muggle born and proud of it. So we will be spending the day amongst muggles. Are you up for that?" asked Hermione challengingly.

Draco seemed to think it over for a minute before he slowly smiled and said, "You're on Granger. When do we leave?"

Hermione smiled and said, "Now, of course."

He seemed surprised and looked at what he was wearing. She looked him over and said, "Do you have anything more casual? A pair of jeans and a t-shirt... Trainers?"

His scowl was all the answer she needed and she turned her head to yell, "Harry, can you come in here for a minute?"

He was there almost instantly and said, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Harry. Can Draco borrow some clothes from you?"

"What?" scoffed Draco and Harry at the same time?

"Honestly, it's like I'm dealing with toddlers. Harry, I'm going to grab some clothes from your room and Draco's going to wear them for the day." She turned and left the room, leaving them very confused.

"What's going on?" asked Harry.

"Granger is taking me muggle shopping for the day."

"What?" asked Harry incredulous?

Draco just shrugged

Hermione returned a few minutes later and threw a pair of jeans and a t-shirt at Draco from the doorway, making him catch them.

"Hey, that's my favorite shirt," whined Harry.

Draco snickered as he began changing and Hermione said, "I know Harry, but I thought the color matched his eyes perfectly. It will look good on him, don't you think?"

Harry stared at her dumbfounded then he noticed Draco was half naked and said, "Oi! Malfoy! I don't want to see you starker's!"

Hermione blushed fiercely when she turned to see what Harry saw. Harry frowned and grabbed her, pulling her out of the room and shutting the door behind him. He scowled at her as she laughed.

"Jealous much?" teased Hermione.

Harry clenched his jaw and crossed his arms in response, causing Hermione to laugh harder.

"Why are you taking him shopping?" grumbled Harry.

"Because I need to get a dress for next weekend," replied Hermione simply.

Harry sighed and said, "Yes, but why are you bringing Malfoy?"

She shrugged and said, "I don't know. It was a spur of the moment thing. But it will be fun."

Harry snorted and she giggled before adding, "Well, even if it's not fun, it will at least be entertaining."

"Are you going to be alright alone with him?" asked Harry concerned.

She nodded and said, "Yes. We're going to be with Muggles all day. I'll be perfectly fine. It's Draco you should be worried about."

Draco opened the door when he heard their riotous laughter, "What's so funny?"

"Oh my god, look at you!" squealed Hermione. "I was right! That shirt looks amazing on you!"

Draco beamed at Hermione's attention and stuck his tongue out at Harry when Hermione walked into his room.

Harry grumbled, "I'm never wearing that shirt again."

Hermione was rummaging through Draco's wardrobe and returned with a pair of shoes and a jacket, which she transfigured to blend in better with muggles. When he was completely dressed she looked him over nodding in approval. She bit her lip for a minute before asking, "Draco, don't take this the wrong way, but would you mind if I did something with your hair?"

Draco scoffed and said, "What's wrong with my hair?"

Harry snorted and Hermione smacked him in the arm before replying, "Nothing's wrong with your hair Draco. I just want you to blend in a little more, that's all."

"Well, I guess… if you have to," replied Draco reluctantly.

Hermione smiled and pulled a chair out for him to sit in. She then stood in front of him and put her hands near his hair and said, "May I?"

He nodded curtly and she quickly went to work running her hands through his hair, just generally messing it up so it wasn't slicked back anymore. Draco closed his eyes and actually groaned at how nice it felt making Hermione giggle. She took her time and after ten minutes she said, "Done!"

Draco slowly opened his eyes, afraid to see what she had done. After one glance in the mirror, he quickly stood unable to believe that was his hair. It was in complete disarray but it looked good. He looked good. Damn good. He turned to Hermione and beamed at her, "Not bad, Granger."

She smiled and said, "What do you think Harry, will he fit in now?"

Harry was staring open mouthed at Draco. He couldn't believe it. _Malfoy looked bloody fucking amazing_. He shook his head and squeaked out, "Yeah," before clearing his throat and saying, "Yes, I think he'll fit in."

Draco raised his eyebrows at Harry's loss of composure, as did Hermione. He quickly was uncomfortable with their attention and turned to leave the room, still shaking his head. _Why did he just think Draco looked hot?_

Hermione and Draco followed Harry into the common room and Ron said, "What's up?"

"Nothing. I'm going dress shopping and Draco's coming with me," replied Hermione simply.

Ron stuttered a little before saying, "You're not serious Hermione."

She looked at him angrily and said, "Yes, in fact I am serious. Do you have a problem with that Ronald?"

He winced at the full name and said, "Well, I just want to make sure you're going to be alright with him. I mean after last night," Ron trailed off as Hermione glared at him.

"Draco and I are going shopping Ronald. If you would like to come and help me find a dress to wear for Viktor next weekend, then by all means, please join us."

Harry snickered but quickly tried to cough to cover it up and Ron glared at him before saying, "No, that's alright Hermione. I'll just stay here. Be careful though, alright?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Honestly Ron, we're just going to the mall." She started heading for the door as both Ron and Draco asked, "What's a mall?"

Harry laughed outright and even Hermione chuckled a little before she said, "Well, come on Draco, we don't have all day."

Draco glanced at Harry before hesitantly following Hermione out the door. Harry couldn't help staring at him as he left. _He couldn't help but wonder if he looked that good when he was wearing those jeans? _

"Harry, why were you staring at Malfoy's ass?" asked Ron as soon as the door closed.

Harry blushed and cleared his throat before saying, "He's wearing my jeans."

"What? Why?"

"Hermione."

Ron nodded and said, "Right, but still why were you staring at his ass?"

Harry groaned and said, "I don't know Ron. He looked good."

Ron stared at Harry incredulously for a minute before they heard Daphne laughing behind them.

"Should I be worried, love?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his waist and nestled into his arms.

He smiled at her mischievously and said, "Very," before leaning down to give her a kiss.

She quickly deepened the kiss and pulled him closer to her. After a minute Ron said, "Oi, you two, I'm still here."

Harry broke away and smiled at Daphne as she said, "Sorry, but I didn't get to have my way with Harry last night. I have needs, you know, Weasley."

Ron seemed genuinely shocked by what she said which made Harry laugh. Daphne turned back to Harry and said, "But seriously, love, I would pay to see you and Draco together."

Now it was Harry's turn to be shocked, making Ron laugh. Daphne continued, "I mean you're both incredibly sexy, you're both passionate, and you're both powerful."

Harry frowned at her and Ron snorted, "Malfoy's not powerful."

Daphne looked at Ron like he was an idiot and said, "Of course he is. He was a death eater for Merlin's sake. Do you have any idea the shit they have to go through to be branded? Let's just say it's not easy on them. He's also a skilled Occlumens and he can do some wandless magic. Plus, he's a Malfoy and a Black, both notoriously powerful families."

Harry was getting quite jealous listening to Daphne go on and on about Malfoy. He snapped, "Should I be worried?"

She smirked at him and said, "Well, he's not called the Slytherin Sex God for nothing, Harry."

Harry's jaw dropped and Daphne laughed and said, "Don't worry love, I don't know from experience, that would be too weird."

Harry nodded and Ron asked, "Why would it be weird? It sounds like you're his biggest fan?"

Daphne chuckled and said, "My Dad is obsessed with marrying either me or Astoria off to the Malfoys. He's spent years drilling all of Draco's finer qualities into our heads. Astoria told me early on she wanted him and I'd rather not have sex with my sister's future husband."

"Wait a minute, so you don't have a choice in who you marry?" asked Harry appalled?

Daphne shrugged and said, "It depends."

Harry stared at her incredulously and she reluctantly continued, "If Astoria didn't want to marry Draco then I would have had to. It wouldn't have mattered what I wanted. It's all about family alliances, money, and continuing the line. But since she does want to marry Draco then that may give me a little more freedom to choose. But it still depends on who it is my father wants me to marry."

Harry was honestly speechless so Ron said, "It's pretty standard practice among purebloods, Harry. My family is looked down upon because we don't do it. My parents both felt strongly that we should get to choose but there's seven of us, so there's not really a chance of the line ending."

Harry reached his hand out and caressed Daphne's face and said, "Daph…I don't know what to say. I had no idea. Can't you just say no?"

Daphne smiled gently at him and reached up with her hand to hold his and said, "Ron, do you mind if we see you later?"

Ron shook his head and said, "No, I've got to go find Susan anyway. I'll see you later."

Daphne pulled Harry with her to her room and when the door was finally shut she turned to Harry and kissed him deeply. After a minute she pulled away and said, "Talk to me love. What are you thinking?"

"Why do you have to do what your father says?" he demanded.

"Because it's how I was raised Harry," replied Daphne patiently.

"But… It's insane! And what about me?" asked Harry upset.

"What about you, love?" asked Daphne tenderly rubbing her thumb across his cheek.

Harry reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling it towards his mouth and kissed her palm before he asked, "What if I wanted to marry you?"

"Harry." Replied Daphne warningly.

He continued undeterred, "I'm not a pureblood Daphne."

She pulled her hand out of his grasp and took a step away from him before sternly replying, "Harry, stop it. I don't need you to rescue me. I've known my whole life this was how it was going to be."

"Daph, how can you be alright with this? You should be able to choose who you want to marry," said Harry softly, pulling her close to him again.

"Harry, please," Daphne practically begged, "You have Hermione to think about as well. We both know she's not going to share you with me. The three of us aren't going to get married and live happily ever after, so, let's just enjoy the time we have together now. Alright, love?" she finished desperately.

"Daphne," started Harry but she couldn't take talking about this anymore so she cut him off with a tender kiss. She quickly deepened the kiss and pushed him back onto the bed before climbing on top of him, stopping only long enough to remove both of their clothes. Daphne was moving fast and furious but Harry took both of his hands and held either side of her face, stopping her from moving. He waited for her to calm down as he looked deeply into her eyes, "I don't want to fuck you tonight, Daphne."

Daphne glared at him angrily and tried to pull away from him but he held strong and said, "Hold on a minute. I don't want to fuck you; I want to make love to you. Will you let me make love to you?"

She beamed at him and nodded her head slowly causing Harry to grin widely before flipping them over so that he could take control. He looked over her body and said in awe, "So beautiful."

Daphne blushed and pulled him in for a kiss, which became heated quickly. Harry pulled away and said softly, "I'm not going anywhere, love." She nodded and closed her eyes as she began to enjoy Harry's undivided attention.


	18. Chapter 18

I do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: Warning… This chapter starts off light, and then it gets hot and heavy, and then it gets kind of angsty. I just felt the need to show they aren't all perfectly fine after the war.

Hermione was lying in the bathtub getting ready for her date with Viktor and she was nervous. Really, really, nervous. She closed her eyes and put her head back and thought back on a conversation she had with Draco when they were shopping…

"_Hermione, can I ask you something personal?" asked Draco._

_She looked at him warily and said, "I guess."_

_He thought for a moment before he said delicately, "Why do you let Potter walk all over you?"_

_Surprised she said, "What do you mean?"_

_He smiled at her, realizing she had no idea, and replied, "I mean, why do you put up with him shagging Daphne and snogging all manner of girls."_

_She tensed and said, "Harry and I aren't together, Draco."_

_Draco rolled his eyes and said, "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, but I refuse to believe you are not affected by his actions."_

_She glared at him for a minute before visibly deflating and said, "I don't know what to say Draco. We're not together and I keep telling myself that over and over every time I see him with Daphne or some other witch."_

"_But?"_

_She smiled weakly and said, "But you're right, I am effected. I'm not sure when this is all over that I'm going to be able to forgive and forget all he's done."_

"_When what is all over?" asked Draco confused._

_Hermione bit her lip not sure if she should trust Draco but finally gave in and said, "We all agreed at the beginning of the year to follow a list that my Mum made up. Basically, we have to date others and experiment with sex."_

_Draco looked shocked and Hermione giggled at him. He pulled himself back together and said, "I wasn't expecting you to say anything like that."_

_She nodded and said, "I know. It's completely out of character for all of us."_

_He grinned and said, "Definitely. But now I understand a little better what's going on with the three of you. So you and Harry agreed to date others?"_

"_Well, actually Ron and I agreed to date others. Harry was the first person I dated after Ron and it turns out I fell completely in love with him."_

"_So your feelings for Harry are stronger than your feelings for Ron?"_

_Hermione sighed then said, "Yeah."_

"_Does Ron know this?" asked Draco with his eyebrow raised._

_Hermione shrugged and said, "I think so, but I haven't come right out and told him that at the end of all this it's Harry I want to be with."_

"_But is that even possible after watching Potter with Daphne?"_

"_I don't know. He clearly loves her but he swears he loves me more."_

"_Do you believe him?"_

"_I don't know. I don't even think Harry truly knows whom he wants to be with. But I guess that's the whole point of doing this. So we can find the person we're meant to be with, or at least know who we're not meant to be with."_

"_That sounds very complicated."_

_Hermione laughed and said, "It is. It really is. I don't think we realized quite how complicated things were going to get. We were so naïve."_

_Draco nodded then said, "I have a suggestion, would you care to hear it?"_

_She smiled at him and said, "Please."_

_He smiled and said, "How about you try and put all this Harry stuff aside for now and focus on your date with Viktor. It's obviously not going to work itself out while he's still seeing Daphne, so move on for now."_

_She bit her lip and Draco asked, "Tell me what you like about Viktor."_

_She smiled and said, "He's sweet and kind and lovable."_

_Draco rolled his eyes and said, "You sound like you're talking about a puppy, Granger. You dated him in fourth year and you obviously still see something in him if you're going out with him again. So what is it? Is it just because he's a big Quidditch star?"_

"_No! Of course not!" snapped Hermione making Draco smile. She thought for a minute then continued, "I love the way he makes me feel like I'm the center of his world. No matter what's going on or who's around he's always focused on me." She blushed then said, "And he's a great kisser. But it's not how he kisses it's how he takes control of me, not in a crazy S&M way but just… I don't know how to explain it. He's strong and firm so when we're snogging, he'll hold me in place if he likes where I am, or if he wants me to move, he just moves me… and sort of holds me tight. He's not rough, just firm. Do you know what I mean?"_

_Draco laughed and said, "No, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."_

_Hermione blushed and smiled shyly before she said, "Here, let me show you."_

_Draco raised his eyebrows at her and she rolled her eyes in response before pushing him against the wall of a building they were walking by. "Hey, watch it, I'm fragile," teased Draco._

"_Relax your body," she ordered._

_He smirked at he but did as she asked and she leaned into his personal space and whispered in his ear, "Do you like this?" He tensed and she said, "Relax." He forced himself to relax and before he knew what was happening she moved him so that she was against the wall and he was pulled against her tightly. He looked at her surprised and she smiled and said, "That's what I'm talking about. He just takes control and I love it."_

_Draco smirked at her and said, "I think I love it too. Do you think Viktor would take me out on a date?"_

_Hermione put her head on Draco's chest and laughed before moving him back so she could start walking again. He laughed and began walking with her again._

Back in the tub, Hermione thought about her relationship with Viktor in fourth year. Her only regret was that Viktor would never let her do more than kiss him. He said she was too innocent and too young, told her to wait, to be patient. _Well, Hermione wasn't young and innocent anymore…would he let her do more now? Would he think she was a total slag if she spent the night with him? What would Harry think of her?_

Hermione shook her head; she was not going to worry about Harry. She was going to do what Draco said and concentrate only on Viktor. She got up out of the tub, dried herself off and put on her bathrobe before she began getting ready for her date. About a half an hour later, there was a knock on her door that was connected to Harry's. He almost never knocked. Confused, she got up and opened the door to see Harry standing there.

"Why didn't you just come in?" she asked going back to her vanity to work on her make up.

Harry shrugged and followed her in before he said, "I don't know." He sat down on her bed and Hermione couldn't help but notice he looked sad. She turned to him fully and said, "What's wrong, Harry?"

"Nothing."

She glared at him and said, "Harry. Obviously something is bothering you, what is it?"

He looked up at her briefly before looking away, "I don't want you to go tonight."

Hermione just gaped at him and he waved her off and said, "I know I don't have any right to say that and I don't expect you to actually stay home but it's bothering me."

Hermione recovered slightly and said, "Well, I'm glad you're not actually asking me to stay home. But what exactly is bothering you about me going out tonight?"

Harry sighed and said, "You were in a relationship with Viktor…for a long time. You've stayed in touch with him over the years and always seem to have a good time with him."

"Yes, that's all true," replied Hermione before she tentatively asked, "Harry, are you jealous?"

He shrugged and said, "I don't know. I guess. I just don't want to lose you."

She looked at him for a minute before she said, "Harry, you need to figure out what you're doing. And I'm going to figure out what I'm doing."

"So, you don't want to be with anymore?" asked Harry hurt.

"No, that's not what I said. But you can't do whatever you want and expect me to just forgive you and forget about it. I have feelings Harry."

Harry got up and moved to stand in front of her, rubbing her face tenderly with his hand. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand and they stayed like this for several moments until she felt him move and opened her eyes. He had dropped to the floor in front of her on his knees and moved in to kiss her. Surprised, she let him for a minute before she pulled back and said, "Harry, don't."

He looked at her obviously wounded but she couldn't deal with Harry's confusion right now. She was going to focus on herself for once. She smiled apologetically at him before getting up to put her dress on.

"You'll be careful tonight?" he asked quietly.

When she turned back to respond to him she noticed that Harry had moved to sit on the bed once again, "Of course."

"If you …I mean…if you need anything, anything at all, just send me a patronus," said Harry genuinely.

She smiled and said, "I'll be fine, Harry, I promise." He looked like he was going to object so she added, "But yes, I will send you a patronus if I need anything."

He nodded and said, "I'll stay in, just in case."

"Harry. You don't have to do that."

He shrugged and she left it alone; he was a Gryffindor after all. She took her dress to the bathroom, closed the door and got dressed. A few minutes later she opened the door but remained in front of the bathroom mirror to do her hair. She noticed him get up and move into the doorway to look at her. She made eye contact with him in the mirror and smiled shyly.

"Wow," he said breathily.

She turned to him and said, "Yeah?"

He nodded enthusiastically and said, "Yeah."

She beamed and turned back to work on her hair, "Draco actually found this dress. I wasn't even going to try it on but he made me."

Harry chuckled and teased, "Beginners luck I guess, or maybe he's secretly a cross dresser?"

Hermione laughed and Harry joined her. They were so loud they didn't hear the knock on her door, only hearing a "Hermione?"

They both stopped laughing and she poked her head out of the bathroom to see Draco standing in her doorway. "Hey, you can come in. I'm just doing my hair."

He smiled and came in, standing next to Harry in the doorway. "I told you that dress was perfect, didn't I?"

She rolled her eyes and said, "Yes, you did. I was just telling Harry that you picked it out."

Harry nodded and said mischievously, "You're pretty good at picking dresses out Malfoy; anything you want to share?"

Hermione burst out laughing, as Draco seemed to take a minute to understand what Harry was implying. He scoffed, "Please, Potter, you wish."

Harry quirked his eyebrow at him in response making Draco laugh, "He's going to be here soon, Hermione, where are your shoes?"

"I don't know, I threw them in my wardrobe when we got back from shopping," replied Hermione unfazed.

Draco rolled his eyes and moved to her wardrobe to find them, coming back a few minutes later with two black high heels in his hands. He kneeled down in front of her and Hermione blushed as she placed a hand on his shoulder and stepped into the heels. Harry frowned at the intimacy and crossed his arms angrily when he noticed the very high slit in Hermione's dress. It was a long fitted black beaded dress that hugged all of her curves that up until now, only Harry had been privy to.

Draco stood and noticed Harry's glower before Hermione so he gave him a quick jab in the side surprising him, "Ouch."

Hermione looked at them and teased, "Boys, no fighting tonight, because I'm not going to be here to break it up."

Draco grinned and joked, "Hear that Potter, no one to save your ass tonight."

"Ha. Ha. Ha," mocked Harry, flipping Draco the bird.

Hermione couldn't help but notice how sexy they both looked, standing so close next to each other in her bathroom doorway. Harry with messy hair and bare feet casually sexy in his jeans and t-shirt while Draco was the exact opposite with his perfect hair, black dress pants and shirt and his perfectly polished shoes. She involuntarily made a whimpering noise and both boys turned to look at her, making her blush.

Draco smirked and said, "Why are you blushing, Hermione?"

She looked at the floor and bit her lip in embarrassment, which confused Harry but made Draco laugh. Annoyed, she looked up and snapped, "Oh please, Draco. Like you've never thought about two witches together!"

He smirked and said, "Oh, I've done more than think about two witches together, trust me."

Hermione retorted, "Is that a challenge, Draco?"

"Wait, what?" asked Harry confused.

Draco laughed and said, "Granger, you don't have it in you. You're too innocent."

Anger flashed through Hermione's eyes making both Harry and Draco take a step away from her. "I'm so sick of being told I'm too innocent!" she yelled.

Harry was thoroughly confused now and asked, "What's going on?"

Hermione ignored him and focused on Draco, making him squirm, "I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean to offend you. You're just not that kind of girl. It was a compliment."

She narrowed her eyes and growled, "How am I not that kind of girl? Tell me Draco. Because I'm sexless… Because I couldn't possibly please two wizards at the same time… or because two wizards couldn't possibly want me?"

Draco looked helplessly to Harry who seemed speechless at the moment. Draco realized he was going to have to dig his way out of this so held up his hands in surrender and said, "Of course you could please two wizards, Hermione. You are extremely sexy and trust me when I say every wizard I know wants you. I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to upset you."

She sighed and turned away from him and said quietly, "I'm sorry. I just hate being told I'm too innocent. It REALLY bothers me."

Harry and Draco shared confused glances and Draco motioned for Harry to say something. After much gesturing, finally Harry asked tentatively, "Hermione, why does that bother you so much?"

She sighed and turned around and said, "In fourth year, Viktor would never let me do anything with him. He would always say I was too innocent and it really made me angry. It always just felt like he was rejecting me."

"Hermione, you were 14," started Harry but Hermione cut him off, "15!" He continued, "Right, sorry, 15. What did you want him to do, take advantage of you?"

"Yes!" yelled Hermione before covering her mouth embarrassed.

Harry was stunned and just stood there gaping at her but Draco just chuckled and said, "Hermione if it will make you feel better, I'd be happy to take advantage of you." She laughed and he continued, "In fact, maybe Potter and I can take advantage of you together, I mean if you really want to prove that you're not innocent."

She blushed a deep red and Draco's Slytherin Sex God instincts took over and he suddenly pulled her forward so that she was standing in between him and Harry.

Harry wasn't sure what was going on but somehow the scenario Draco had just discussed became very real.

Draco stepped towards Hermione and she backed up into Harry causing him to wrap his arm around her waist to hold her steady. Harry couldn't help but notice that she was breathing heavily, just like she did when she was aroused. He watched her lick her lips as Draco leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Oh my, what a naughty little Gryffindor you are."

Hermione's responding whimper went straight to Harry's groin and he bucked his hips against her instinctively. He looked at Draco above Hermione's shoulder and saw the lust he was feeling reflected back at him from Draco's steel grey eyes. Harry barely had time to widen his eyes in shock before Draco moved forward and pulled Harry towards him in a violent kiss. The two clashed teeth and nipped at each other's lips, both trying to take control. Hermione melted between the two of them and sexily moaned, "Fuck," as she pulled Draco towards her and moved backwards at the same time until Harry was against the wall.

Harry kept one hand around Hermione's waist but took the other and twisted it in Draco's hair and pulled hard, making him gasp. He then took the opportunity to plunge his tongue into the blonde's mouth. Draco bucked his hips into Hermione in response, making her whimper loudly.

As the kiss intensified Harry felt Hermione grinding against him at the same time he felt hands sliding under his shirt. He was in sensory overload as hands brushed across the top of his jeans before moving around and squeezing his ass and pulling him forward.

Harry groaned and opened his eyes to see Hermione was writhing between them and she had pulled Draco's shirt open kissing and nipping on his chest. Draco had to put a hand on the wall next to Harry's head to steady himself. Their gazes met for a moment before Draco tossed his head back and groaned in pleasure from what Hermione was doing to him.

Harry took a moment to enjoy the Slytherin Sex God in all his glory, before he moved his mouth to Hermione's neck and started to lick and nip at her, causing her to moan. He then moved his left hand to her hip and moved it down until he felt the slit in her dress and was touching her bare leg. Smirking into her neck he started moving his hand back up under her dress until he reached her knickers. He quickly slipped under them and began caressing her. She growled, "Harry," and bucked wantonly until two of his fingers were inside her. She put her head back on Harry's shoulder and Draco took the opportunity to nip at her neck before licking the exposed part of her breasts making her moan loudly. They stayed like this for several minutes as she mewled, purred and growled sexily.

Harry knew she was close and quite frankly he felt like he was going to burst with need. He thought he heard something and looked at Draco who seemed to hear it as well. Harry was surprised at the passion reflected in Draco's eyes and was shocked when he saw Malfoy wave his hand at the door, wandlessly locking it and silencing the noise from outside. "Fuck," growled Harry as he moved his head closer to Draco's to snog him senseless. Apparently, this was enough to send Hermione over the edge and she let out something between a squeal and a moan as her body shuddered from the force of her orgasm. Her knees grew weak and both Harry and Draco placed an arm around her to help hold her up. She panted heavily trying to pull herself back together even as she felt Harry and Draco both grinding against her purposefully. Suddenly she remembered she was getting ready for a date with Viktor before this started and she gasped, "stop!"

Surprised, they both stopped and opened their eyes questioningly to look at her.

She was panting still but they could see the panic in her eyes as she practically shrieked, "Merlin's fucking pants! What the hell are we doing?"

They both quickly stepped away from her and looked at her. Draco looked terrified while Harry looked horrified.

She quickly realized they thought she was scared of them and shook her head, "No. No. I'm not mad at you. I just…" She trailed off as she looked around panicked, "What time is it?"

They both looked at her completely confused and she felt like she was losing her mind. _What was she thinking? Viktor was going to be here any minute! Jesus, what was she thinking? Shit. Fuck! Shit. Why did it feel like someone was sitting on her chest? Why couldn't she breathe?_

"Hermione," said Harry quietly, "Are you alright?"

She shook her head back and forth and tears started to fall down her face.

Draco started to panic himself and ran to the door, throwing it open to yell, "Weasley!" A minute later Ron was at the door and Draco pulled him in forcefully before slamming the door and wandlessly locking and silencing it again.

"What the fuck Malfoy!" yelled Ron before he took in the scene before him. Hermione was on the floor in her dress, crying and gasping for air. "What the fuck happened?" he roared making Hermione jump in fright.

Ron looked to Harry who was backed into the wall in front of Hermione, and then back to Draco who was plastered against the door; they both looked equally scared.

Glaring at both of them he moved to sit on the floor next to Hermione and touched her arm, which resulted in her scurrying away from him. "Hey, it's alright, Hermione. It's just me. Ron. I'm not going to hurt you."

She looked at him and he gasped at the panic in her eyes, "Just try and calm down. Breathe Hermione. Just breathe."

He quietly said, "Just breathe," over and over again for what seemed like eternity. He had no idea what happened but he felt like fucking murdering Harry and Malfoy right now. He looked up at them and growled, "Get. Out."

Surprised they both just stood there. Ron got up off the floor and grabbed Harry by the arm and dragged him over to the door where Draco was still standing. He glared at them both and said it again, "Get. Out."

They glanced at Hermione again before Draco reluctantly opened the door and Harry followed him out. Ron slammed the door and cast a spell at it locking them out. They both sat on the floor on the other side of the door, not wanting to leave until they knew she was all right. They quickly realized Ron did not recast the silencing spell.

Ron turned back to Hermione; she had calmed down enough that she wasn't gasping for air anymore. He sat down on the floor in front of her again and waited, wondering what on earth had set her off. She seemed to be getting panic attacks a lot lately and he was very worried about her. Maybe the war affected her more than they all realized. He snorted. _Who was he kidding; it affected all of them more than they realized. He still had nightmares, was completely paranoid, and practically panicked if he didn't see Harry and Hermione at least once a day._

"I'm sorry," said Hermione quietly, "I just panicked."

"It's alright. There's nothing to be sorry about," replied Ron patiently.

She nodded and wiped the tears off her face.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She snorted as she got up, walking to her vanity for a tissue, "Not much to say. I'm a complete nutter."

"You are **not** a nutter, Hermione," he replied genuinely.

She snorted and said, "Try telling that to Draco. This is the second time I've lost it in front of him."

"Hermione," started Ron, "Hermione, look at me." She reluctantly looked at him and he continued, "You are not crazy. You were in a war and you suffered. We ALL suffered. You need to give yourself time to recover."

"But you're fine! Harry's fine! He fucking died for us Ron and he's fine! Why am I so weak!" Hermione yelled angrily.

Ron looked at her sympathetically and said, "I'm not fine, Hermione. I'm fucking paranoid all the time that someone is going to come out of nowhere and shoot spells at me. If I haven't seen you or Harry all day, I completely panic. I'm like a maniac rushing through the castle just to get back here and see that you're both safe. I have nightmares every fucking night that we're back at Malfoy Manor but we don't get to you in time, and I wake up to a flash of green light in a complete sweat every morning."

"Oh, Ron," replied Hermione tearily, moving over to his side.

They sat in silence for a minute when they heard Draco speak from the other side of the door, "Hermione, I know it's not the same, because I deserve it, but I'm not fine either. I can't use the floo anymore I'm so terrified of fire. I can't even walk past the gates of my house, without shaking uncontrollably and dropping to the ground. I haven't been inside since before the final battle. I have nightmares every night of all the horrible things I've seen. It's like a collage of death and destruction and the only sound I can hear is your screams, over and over again."

Before Hermione could reply Harry added, "I'm not fine, Hermione. I've just had years of practice hiding it. Some days I feel so guilty that I can barely get out of bed. If I had just found the Horcruxes sooner then I could have saved so many lives. If I had just insisted that Tonks go home, then Teddy would have his mother. If I had been smarter, I could have found the Diadem sooner and Fred wouldn't have been in that exact place at that exact time and he wouldn't have died. If I tried harder I could have saved Snape. If I hadn't have been so stupid Sirius wouldn't have died!" Harry gasped trying to hold back the tears before he choked out, "If I hadn't have been born, my parents wouldn't have died!"

The door flew open causing both Draco and Harry to fall backwards before they were both smothered by Hermione; with a teary eyed Ron looking on. Harry buried his head in one side of her neck and Draco buried his head in the other side. They all sat there on the floor, half in the hall and half in her room, sniffling as they hugged each other.

"I'm so sorry. I swear it had nothing to do with either of you. I just panicked from all the emotions swirling inside me," pleaded Hermione, "Please, tell me you believe me?"

They both nodded and she continued, "Harry, please, it's not your fault, you can't blame yourself for everyone's death. You did as much as you could have done and more than any one person should have ever had to do!"

Harry nodded and she added, "And Draco, please, you don't deserve it. You were forced to witness horrible things that you could not have prevented. Your fate was decided for you just as much as Harry's was decided for him. You couldn't walk away from your family."

She waited for Draco to nod before she moved away from the both of them, motioned to Ron to come over then said, "Ron, you can't keep blaming yourself for leaving. You were overwhelmed and you panicked and you said yourself you wanted to come back right away but you couldn't. You came back Ron and you did get to me in time and that's all that matters."

Ron nodded and she continued, "None of us deserved what happened to us but we have to figure out a way to move on. I can't keep panicking every time I'm overwhelmed by my emotions. I refuse to be scared every time I'm in a room with the doors closed."

She took a deep breath and finished emotionally, "We have to learn how to heal what's been broken inside us. We just have to."

Author's Note: So what did you think?


	19. Chapter 19

I do not own Harry Potter.

"Hermione?"

Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ron all quickly turned, surprised to hear someone else. They thought they were all alone.

Daphne smiled gently and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt but Viktor is here."

Hermione nodded and started to get up off the floor but Ron was there in an instant and pulled her up. She smiled at him and said, "Thanks."

He nodded and she looked at Harry and Draco who were now standing as well. She opened her mouth a few times but nothing came out.

"Are you sure you want to go, Hermione?" asked Harry worriedly.

"It's too late to back out now, Harry."

"So what," replied Ron quickly.

She glared at Ron as she stepped back into her room to look at herself in the mirror. She started adjusting her dress and then moved on to her hair. The boys all watched her in silence and she smiled at them in the mirror. "I'm fine, really. I promise if I get overwhelmed I'll just ask Viktor to bring me home."

Harry scowled and said, "You mean bring you here."

"That's what I just said."

"No, you said you were going to ask Viktor to bring you home. It sounded like you meant bring you to his home," replied Draco.

Hermione rolled her eyes and began fixing her makeup. "You know I can take care of myself. I'm perfectly capable of deciding whose home I want to go to."

"What!" said Ron in horror?

"You're not seriously thinking about going home with him tonight, Hermione, are you?" asked Harry angrily.

Hermione stayed silent while she finished her makeup. She then stood and walked over to get her beaded bag and pointed her wand at it changing the color to match her dress. She walked towards the boys who were all lined up by her door, stopping in front of Harry. She reached her hand out and traced his jaw with the back of her hand and said, "I appreciate that you're worried about me, Harry, but that's none of your business." She then smiled at Draco and Ron, who both seemed to be speechless, and walked out of her room towards the common room where she knew Viktor was waiting.

"Her-mi-ninny," said Viktor as he greeted her with a kiss to her hand and then her cheek. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you Viktor. You're looking pretty smashing yourself." Replied Hermione kissing his cheek and allowing him to put her outer cloak on for her.

Viktor held out his arm for her to take and turned to leave the common room. He only had eyes for Hermione and hadn't paid any attention to anyone else, so he was surprised to hear, "Viktor."

He turned to see Harry moving closer and he nodded his head and said, "Harry."

Harry stopped in front of them, crossed his arms and said, "I expect you'll make sure nothing happens to her tonight."

Viktor frowned and said, "Of course."

This seemed to annoy Harry and his eyes flashed with anger, "I also expect you'll be bringing her back tonight."

Viktor narrowed his eyes but before he could respond Hermione did. She seethed, "Harry. That's enough. I'll see you tomorrow." She then pulled Viktor somewhat reluctantly from the common room, as he seemed to be silently fuming at Harry.

They were silent until they reached the gates of Hogwarts and Hermione said, "I'm sorry about Harry, Viktor. I don't know what came over him."

"He cares about you."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean he can interrogate you!"

"Something has changed, no?"

"What do you mean?"

"Harry, he vas acting like…how do you say… a jealous boyfriend?"

Hermione chuckled and smiled at Viktor and said, "Yes, he was, wasn't he?"

"Yes. Are you together?"

Hermione paused before she said, "No. We're not."

He raised his eyebrow at her and said, "Are you sure?"

She smiled and said, "Yes, I'm positive. Now, enough about Harry, let's enjoy ourselves."

Viktor nodded and held on tight to Hermione before apparating to the private apparition point at the awards ceremony. They were immediately greeted and checked in. Their cloaks were taken and then they told them to head through the doors.

"Are you ready?"

Hermione looked at him questioningly and he clarified, "Reporters. There will be many taking pictures of us."

She smiled, took his arm and said, "I'm ready when you are, Viktor."

He nodded and led them through the doors. Hermione was practically blinded from all the flashing cameras, she was glad she was holding onto Viktor. When they finally made it past all the cameras Hermione realized she was now faced with a room full of reporters wanting interviews. She sighed internally… _this was going to be a long night_.

Back in the common room, Harry was sulking. Draco laughed and sat down next to him. "Cheer up Potter, it's just a date."

Harry glared at Draco in response making him laugh more. He got up and a returned a minute later with a bottle of fire whisky and two shot glasses. He filled the glasses and held one out for Harry, who grudgingly accepted it.

"To Granger," said Draco tapping his glass against Harry's.

They both drank it quickly and Harry immediately reached for the bottle and refilled their glasses making Draco raise his eyebrow. They continued drinking with sporadic small talk in between but before they knew it the common room was empty except for them and they were both smashed.

"Granger looked hot tonight," smirked Draco.

"Hermione," snapped Harry.

Draco waved his hand in dismissal and replied, "She looked hot Potter and you know it."

Harry finally cracked and said, "She looked bloody fucking amazing."

Draco snorted and said, "100% shaggable."

Harry only nodded, and he seemed deep in thought.

"Hello? Earth to Potter?" Draco said waving his hand in front of Harry's face.

Harry blushed and looked away making Draco smirk. "Are you imagining Granger naked?"

"What? No!" replied Harry instantly before he smirked and said, "Besides, I don't need to imagine."

Draco roared in laughter for several minutes before he said, "Lucky bastard."

Harry nodded and said, "I know."

"Do you," asked Draco suddenly serious?

Harry looked at him quizzically, "What do you mean?"

"I mean do you really know how lucky you are to have her?"

"We're not together," replied Harry instantly.

"Yeah, but whose fault is that?" sneered Draco.

Harry frowned but didn't reply. Uncomfortable he decided to change the topic, "Why did you kiss me earlier?"

Draco spluttered and coughed, his drink spilling all over him in the process. "Bloody hell Potter."

Harry just stared at him waiting for an answer.

"Why didn't you stop me?" asked Draco when he had finally composed himself.

They stared at each other for several minutes before Harry said, "I didn't want to stop you. Now answer my question."

Draco thought for a minute before he shrugged and said, "I wanted to."

Harry nodded and poured them both another drink. As they drank in silence, Harry became suddenly aware of how close they were sitting. His whole body was focused on his left knee, which was touching Draco's right knee. He stared at the point where they were touching and shifted so that he was at an angle to Draco. He spread his arms out on the top of the couch and tried to objectively look at Draco. He was certainly good looking. He moved up his body and noticed that Draco seemed to be quite fit. Harry found that he actually wanted to reach out and touch him. Harry shook his head, trying to clear the lascivious thoughts. But when he made eye contact with Draco, his breath caught in his throat. Draco was looking at Harry like he was dinner. He seemed ready to pounce and Harry realized that he was getting very turned on. He swallowed, hard.

Suddenly, Draco stood. He emptied his glass quickly then reached and took Harry's glass out of his hand. Confused Harry just looked at him. Draco didn't seem capable of words so he just motioned towards his room with his head. Harry unconsciously got up and before he realized what he was doing he was in Draco's room. He was quickly slammed up against the door and forced into a bruising kiss. Harry moaned and grabbed Draco's arms, forcefully pushing him back. Draco stumbled a bit but before he could act Harry was pushing him back onto the bed. He then straddled Draco and held his arms above his head. He lowered his head and began kissing him. It started soft but soon turned rough with Harry biting Draco's lower lip, making him yelp. Harry pulled back smirking and used his finger to smear the blood across his entire lip. He then pulled him in for a longer more sensual kiss, making Draco buck his hips and whimper. This sent a thrill through Harry and he let go of Draco's arms and threaded his right hand into Draco's hair, before pulling hard, making Draco gasp. They stared at each other before Harry moved away enough to pull Draco's shirt open. Draco moaned at the feel of Harry's hands running over his chest and he whimpered in delight when Harry pinched his nipples. Suddenly, overcome with lust, Draco flipped them and pinned Harry beneath him. Before Harry could recover from the shock Draco had moved down Harry's body. He pulled his shirt up and started using his tongue to explore Harry's abdomen. Harry was writhing in pleasure from the sensations and he moaned loudly when Draco started undoing his pants.

"Fuck," moaned Harry as Draco moved further down and took off Harry's boxers. Suddenly, he was engulfed in warmth and was overcome with a desire to see this happening. He leaned up on his elbows to watch; unable to believe this was actually happening. Draco stopped and met Harry's lust filled gaze before continuing to pleasure him. Harry moaned incoherently the whole time, "Bloody… fucking… FUCK… fuck… Oh…Ahhh… fuck!"

Draco pulled away, unable to hold in his amusement anymore. "I never took you for a screamer, Potter."

The only answer he received was being pinned to the bed under Harry again.

Hermione was giggling like crazy as Viktor carried her into the common room, "I'm soooo sorry Viktor. I didn't realize how much I was drinking."

He smiled at her and said, "You do not need to apologize. I'm glad you had a good time."

She beamed at him and squealed, "I did! Who knew there were so many good looking men in Quidditch!" She burst into giggles again and sat down on the couch.

He chuckled and said, "I had not noticed this as I vas too busy looking at you."

She blushed and replied, "Oh Viktor, I'm sorry. I wanted to go home with you tonight. I planned on going home with you tonight but I just can't stop thinking about Harry and Draco."

He quirked his eyebrow at her but said, "Her- mi- ninny, you do not need to explain. I vas happy to be with you tonight."

She smiled at him and said softly, "Thank you Viktor, you've always been incredibly sweet to me."

He nodded and asked, "Do you need help getting to your room?"

She blushed and looked away and he laughed and asked, "Do you want me to find Harry for you?"

Blushing profusely she nodded and he sent his Patronus off to find Harry who was still very much occupied with Draco.

"FUCK!" moaned Harry

"Bloody hell," gasped Draco.

Harry ran his hand over his neck and looked at it, it was covered in blood. "What the fuck Malfoy! You bit me!"

Draco raised his head to look at Harry's hand and chuckled before he said, "Yeah, I guess I did."

"Fucking Vampire!" snapped Harry just before a shark Patronus entered the room capturing both of their attention.

"Potter. Ve are in your common room. Her-mi-ninny vould like to see you," said Viktor through his Patronus.

Draco and Harry both got up clumsily, still somewhat drunk, and made themselves somewhat presentable. They stumbled out into the common room and Hermione giggled uncontrollably when she saw the pair of them.

Viktor eyed them skeptically and finally addressed Harry, "She vas asking for you."

Harry grinned and moved towards her on the couch, "Did you have fun, love?"

She smiled and said, "Yes! But I think I drank too much. Poor Viktor had to carry me home."

Draco chuckled and said, "Yes, poor Viktor."

Harry glared at Draco before he nodded at Viktor and said, "Thank you for bringing her back."

"Of course," said Viktor before addressing Hermione, "Thank you for coming vith me. I had a good time. And I'm sure you vill be in all the papers tomorrow."

Hermione frowned and said, "Why do you say that?"

Viktor smiled widely and teased, "How do you not know? Because you are beautiful Her-mi-ninny," and then he leaned down and took her hand and kissed it before nodding at Harry and leaving.

Suddenly Hermione smacked Harry's thigh and he jumped and asked, "What was that for?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, then Draco and started ranting, "That was for distracting me all night! I couldn't stop thinking about the both of you! I kept thinking of how it felt to have both your hands running all over my body at the most inappropriate times! I don't even remember half of the people I met I was so preoccupied! And poor Viktor, I had this whole plan to go home with him but I couldn't even do it! All I wanted to do was come home and drag you both to bed!"

Harry went from mischievous delight to anger to pure desire in the span of seconds as he listed to Hermione.

Draco chuckled and said, "Poor Viktor really did get a raw deal," making Hermione giggle and Harry laugh.

Hermione stood up unsteadily and said, "Help me to my bedroom so I can take this blasted dress off!"

Draco was quickly at her side and said huskily, "I can most definitely help you get that dress off."

Harry stood up on her other side and growled, "She's drunk, Malfoy."

"So are we, Potter."

Hermione giggled and put one arm around each of them and purred, "Boys, don't worry, I promise to take advantage of both of you equally."

They both groaned as she started heading out of the common room, pulling them with her to her bedroom.


	20. Chapter 20

I do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: I'm sorry for the long wait, but I hope this makes everyone, or at least most of you, happy. I tried to keep it keep this from going overboard but it's definitely hot in here! Let me know what you think.

Hermione pulled Harry and Draco into her room and closed the door behind them. When she turned back to face them, Harry was taken aback by the look of desire radiating from her. He gulped and held his hands out as he said, "Hermione…"

She smirked and walked towards him, "Yes, Harry," she purred.

He took a few steps back and said, "Hermione, you're drunk."

"So are we, Potter," laughed Draco from beside him.

"Not helping Malfoy!" snapped Harry.

Hermione smiled predatorily at him and asked sexily, "Are you trying to say no to me, Harry?"

"No, I mean yes," stammered Harry as she took the clips and pins out of her hair, shaking it out. She raised her eyebrow at him as she took off her shoes and tossed them to the side. Harry looked desperately to Draco for help but found he was too entranced with Hermione to be of any help. Harry closed his eyes for a second, trying to gather his Gryffindor resolve, but when he opened them Hermione was right in front of him.

"Harrrry," she purred, "Would you unzip this for me?" She turned away from him and held up her hair so that Harry could see the zipper. Harry's hands acted of their own accord and before he realized it, he was kissing Hermione's back and shoulders as he pulled her zipper down. She moaned sexily and he felt that last of his resolve leave him. She let the dress fall to the floor before stepping out of it. She was wearing a black lace strapless bra and a matching black lace thong. When she bent over to pick up the dress she gave Draco a fabulous view of her breasts and Harry a fabulous view of her ass, making the both of them groan.

Smirking she walked over to her vanity and laid her dress over the chair. She looked up into the mirror and made eye contact with the both of them. She smirked as she saw them closing in on her. She turned to face them and Draco put his right arm around her waist and pulled her close to him before he asked huskily, "Are you sure about this Hermione?"

She bit her lip as she stared into his steel grey eyes before she broke eye contact to look at Harry. He had moved closer as well but wasn't close enough for her liking, so she reached out with her right hand and pulled him against her front right side as Draco was occupying her front left side. Harry immediately wrapped his arm around her waist as well and she closed her eyes at the feel of both of them touching her. She opened her eyes and searched Harry's for any clue that he wasn't OK with this. Finding none she turned back to Draco and answered his question, "Yes, Draco, I'm sure."

He grinned lasciviously at her before kissing her passionately. She immediately wrapped her left arm around Draco and her right arm around Harry, pulling them both even closer.

Harry began kissing and sucking on her neck, making her shiver. Smirking he continued up until he was nipping on her earlobe. She broke the kiss with Draco and gasped, "Sweet Merlin Harry, that feels fucking incredible."

Not one to be outdone, Draco dropped to knees in front of her began lavishing attention on her stomach, running his tongue along the top of her underwear and nipping lightly on her inner thighs, making her spread her legs apart. She moaned and gripped Draco's shoulder tightly as she tried to stay standing.

Harry decided he needed more of her and quickly disposed of her bra, tossing it to the side before gently cupping her breasts. The tender act made Hermione meet his gaze and she took her right hand and ran it through his hair before pulling him in for a kiss. He had both hands on her breasts and began running his thumbs gently across the nipples, making her practically melt in his arms.

She pulled away suddenly and moaned loudly confusing Harry until he looked down and saw that Draco had decided to take off Hermione's knickers. Harry wrapped his left arm behind Hermione, holding her up as Draco took her left leg and put it over his shoulder. He smirked at Harry before he dove in expertly.

At first Harry wasn't sure how he felt about Draco being so intimate with Hermione, until Draco made eye contact with Harry. He suddenly felt like he was going to explode from lust and wanted nothing more than to join Draco. He quickly picked Hermione up, making her squeak in surprise and Draco scowl. He gently laid her down on the bed and stood at the end admiring her. He felt Draco next to him and he turned to grin at him. Draco seemed to understand and grinned back before they both turned to look at Hermione. She gasped at the feral look in their eyes as they moved to kneel on the bed in between her legs, spreading them wide. She threw her head back thinking she had died and gone to heaven. It was the quickest she had ever had an orgasm and she found herself practically screaming in release. When she pulled herself together again she found Harry and Draco on either side of her with identical smirks on.

"Alright there love?" asked Harry mischievously.

Still somewhat out of breath she replied, "Just… Brilliant."

Draco smirked and said, "Potter, she tastes incredible, doesn't she?"

Harry grinned and said, "Yeah."

Hermione was blushing profusely now and Draco said, "No Potter, I don't think you're getting the full effect, come here."

Harry quirked his eyebrow at Draco but leaned over Hermione somewhat to reach Draco, who quickly pulled him into a passionate kiss, making Hermione shriek in excitement. As Draco grew more aggressive, Hermione pulled her legs back so they could move closer.

She kneeled in front of them and started running her hands up and down their sides, deciding instantly they had too many clothes on. She grabbed the bottom of Harry's shirt and pulled it up, making him break his kiss with Draco to take it off. He barely had time to look at Hermione before Draco pulled him back in for more. Hermione moved to repeat the process with Draco's shirt, however she realized he was wearing a button down shirt. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she began slowly unbuttoning it, which was quite complicated what with Harry pressed against Draco and Draco's arms wrapped around Harry and his hands fisted in his hair.

When she finally unbuttoned the shirt completely, she first pulled off the sleeve on his right arm before moving to his other side to take the sleeve off his left arm. When she had the sleeve about halfway off Draco suddenly gasped and pulled his arm away from her. Harry looked at him confused but Hermione seemed to understand. She reached for his left hand with hers and turned her arm so that her scar was visible to him and said, "It's alright Draco, we all have scars from the war."

Draco shook his head and tried to pull away from her again but she wasn't having it. She moved forward again so that she was now between him and Harry and gently kissed him. She kept it slow and tender, so that she didn't spook him again. She pulled away and ran her fingers up and down his left forearm and said, "It's OK if you don't want us to see your scar, I didn't want anyone to see mine either."

"But the only reason you have a scar to see is because of me," said Draco quietly.

"No, Draco, that's not true. I have this scar because of one insane witch."

Harry chuckled lightly behind her and added, "one completely and utterly insane witch."

Draco nodded and said, "But I was there."

"So was I," added Harry. "You don't think I feel responsible for that? For everything that happened during the war?"

Draco nodded again and held his arm out for Hermione. She slowly removed his shirt and looked down at his dark mark before pushing him gently back to lie on the bed. She lay next to him and matched her arm over his so that her scar was directly over his. They were all silent for a minute taking in the enormity of everything before Hermione said, "The war's over Draco. It's time for all of us to move on. What do you say, are you up for the challenge?"

Harry smiled as Draco started to grin in response. He then moved to lie next to Draco on the bed and Hermione moved so that she was straddling their legs (well, technically she was straddling Draco's right leg and Harry's left leg). They both moved to lean on their elbows to get closer to her and she smacked them both on their free leg. Harry jumped and Malfoy yelped, making Hermione snicker. She pulled herself together and said in her sternest voice, "Now you listen here, Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy. I expect you to lie down and keep your hands to yourself. I'll not have any funny business going on. Do you understand me?"

Harry grinned widely and quickly lay down but Draco was still scowling and he whined, "I don't want to lay down."

She raised her eyebrow at him and said, "Mr. Malfoy, I'll not ask you again. Now do as your told or I'll have to punish you."

Draco raised his eyebrow at her and laid down somewhat reluctantly, watching her every move. She got up off of them and began taking their pants off. She took Harry's off first, knowing it would drive Draco crazy since he was incredibly impatient. Once Harry's jeans were off, she moved over to Draco to take his pants off and slowly removed them. She then went back to Harry and took his socks off and ran her nails along the bottom of his foot, wanting to see if he was ticklish. She smiled when he laughed and squirmed away from her. She then moved back to Draco and took his socks of and tested to see if he was ticklish, which surprisingly he wasn't. He was however already impatient and leaned up on his elbows again and whined, "Hermione, you're killing me!"

She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Mr. Malfoy one more outburst from you and I'm going to have to punish you."

He huffed and dropped onto his back again, making Harry snicker.

"Shut up, Potter."

Hermione had moved back to Harry and removed his boxers slowly. When she was finished he instinctively reached out for her and she quickly slapped his hand and said, "Mr. Potter! Keep your hands to yourself," causing Draco to laugh.

She moved over to Draco and removed his boxers swiftly, not wanting to give Draco the chance to step out of line but she forgot he was a seeker too and he quickly pulled her onto the bed making her squeak in surprise. She closed her eyes for a minute before extracting herself from his arms. She silently moved to her wardrobe and opened up a drawer making both Harry and Draco prop themselves on their elbows to watch her curiously. She turned around holding three Gryffindor ties in her hand and moved towards them.

"Oh no. I am not wearing a Gryffindor tie you little witch," replied Draco stubbornly.

Harry wasn't sure what she was doing but he was perfectly content waiting to find out.

"Don't worry Mr. Malfoy, you won't be wearing the tie," replied Hermione deviously as she straddled their legs again. She slowly took Harry left arm and moved it above his head holding it there before she took Draco's right arm and moved it above his head. She moved their arms enough so that they were holding hands and secured them to the headboard with one of the ties. Harry chuckled when he realized what she did and Draco gave a few good pulls before whining, "Hermione, untie me!"

She shook her head no and moved to straddle Harry completely. He took the opportunity to lather kisses on her chest as she was tying his right arm to the headboard with the second tie.

Smirking she moved over to straddle Draco fully and tried to tie his left arm to the headboard but he was playfully resisting her. Finally she purred, "Mr. Malfoy, if you don't start behaving then I'm going to have to spank you." To say Draco was completely shocked was an understatement and Hermione used that to her advantage as she finally succeeded in tying his left arm to the headboard.

When she moved back and sat up she could see nothing but desire in their eyes. She felt very powerful right now and she thought she would have some fun with them. She began kissing her way up both of their bodies, making sure she spent equal time on both of them. They were both squirming when she reached their necks and that just gave her more incentive so she gave them the same treatment going back down their body. Not giving them any time to calm down she quickly wrapped one hand around each of them and began moving at a torturously slow pace. After a few minutes they were both begging for more…

"Hermione…please," begged Harry.

"Please what, Mr. Potter?"

"Faster," growled Draco pulling on his restraints.

"I didn't hear the magic word Mr. Malfoy," tutted Hermione.

"What?" gasped Draco before turning his head to Harry and asking, "What is she talking about, Potter?"

"PLEASE! PLEASE! HERMIONE!" yelled Harry gripping Draco's hand tightly while starting to pull against his restraints as well.

She began moving at a faster pace and they both closed their eyes and moaned, enjoying the building feeling of pleasure. That was until she slowed down again making Draco swear, "Bloody hell Hermione! You're fucking killing me!" His eyes were sparkling with desire and he was pulling hard against the ties forcing Harry to arch off the bed slightly. Harry's eyes were pleading with her silently to stop the torture.

Taking pity on them she moved up to give them each a chaste kiss before resuming her treatment. She kept the pace consistent and could tell they were each getting close as they started to writhe around on the bed under her. They were both moaning incoherently but Harry would curse every few minutes making Draco laugh.

Suddenly they were both tense and she saw that they were gripping each other tightly as well as the headboard and she knew they were close. "Come on boys," she purred making Harry whimper and Draco moan. Without stopping she managed to lean down enough so that her breasts were in between them. She maneuvered herself so that and each of them were rubbing against the outside of one of her breasts. Then she ordered, "Boys, look at me."

They both blearily opened their eyes and looked at her, moaning at the sight before them as she repeated huskily, "Come on boys."

Draco tossed his head back and gasped as he rode out his orgasm, while Harry arched off the bed and cursed profusely during his release. After several minutes they both relaxed their bodies and tried to catch their breath. When they finally opened their eyes and looked at Hermione, she was smirking down at them sexily. "So Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, have you learned your lesson?"

They looked at each other before turning back to her with identical grins and said together, "No!"

Author's Note: So, what did you think?


	21. Chapter 21

I do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the long wait! I had a hard time figuring out which path to take this story on. Warning: There is a fair amount of angst in this chapter but it's a necessary evil to get to where I want to. There's also a little Harry/Draco scene.

One month later…

Hermione shook her head in frustration. She was studying in the library for her last exam before Christmas break and she could not concentrate. She slammed her book shut and was quickly shushed by a group of sixth years sitting nearby. Feeling properly chastised Hermione decided she wasn't going to get any more studying done and began gathering her things to head back to her room and get some much needed sleep. She hadn't been able to concentrate since … _the incident_, which is what she was calling the night she spent with Harry and Draco.

She couldn't explain how she felt about it…she didn't regret it, well at least not too much, but she wasn't really comfortable with what she had done. She had been avoiding Harry and to a lesser extent Draco since it happened. For some reason she felt angrier with Harry than she did Draco. She knew it didn't make any sense but it was just how she felt. He tried to talk to her about it more times than she could count but she always brushed him off and told him she was fine, just busy with studying. He knew she was lying but he hadn't called her on it …yet. She knew she needed to work things out soon, because she could tell he was getting frustrated with her. She snorted as she thought, _not frustrated enough to stop seeing Daphne_.

As she walked back to the 8th year dorms she was inundated with a flashback of that night…

_There was a hand on her hips pulling her back into them and another under her but also wrapped around her front, messaging her breast. She moaned in appreciation and moved farther back to encourage them. Then her neck was being kissed and licked, while a hand worked its way between her legs. She spread her legs slightly to allow them more access and turned her head slightly to exchange a kiss. Before the kiss was over, the hand was removed from between her legs and replaced with…_

She shook her head to stop the memories from going any further. She just had to get through one last test and then she would be home with her parents and she could figure all of this out. She opened the door to her common room and had barely stepped through the door when Harry grabbed her arm and started walking her towards their bedrooms. She tugged against him and he turned around with fire in his eyes and said, "We are going to talk Hermione, I'm not taking any more excuses."

Surprised that he was being so forceful, she said nothing but merely followed him. She would follow him anywhere, which is part of the reason she was so mad at him. She couldn't help but feel if it were anyone besides Harry she would have never done what she did that night. She was shaken out of her thoughts when Harry slammed the door shut and stormed over to her, obviously very angry.

"What the hell is going on Hermione?" growled Harry inches from her face.

She took a step back wide eyed and slightly intimidated by him. He noticed this and turned away from her to calm down a little.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said guiltily.

"You didn't scare me Harry, just surprised me is all," replied Hermione trying to make him feel better. _Damn, she really needed to stop putting him first! _

He looked at her skeptically as if he knew she was lying and asked, "What's going on Hermione and don't tell me you've been busy studying. You're always busy studying and you've still always made time for me."

He winced when he saw her narrow her eyes at him, realizing how bad that must have sounded. Before she could let loose on him he said, "That's not what I meant. I just miss you and I'm worried that you regret what happened."

Before she could stop herself she said, "I do."

Stunned, he watched as she covered her mouth in surprise. Then he asked, "You do?"

"I don't know, Harry, that's what I've been trying to figure out this last month." She replied quietly, sitting down on the bed.

"You can't be serious!" yelled Harry angrily.

"Excuse me?" asked Hermione annoyed.

"It was your idea!"

"I know that!"

"I tried to stop you several times for Merlin's sake, you were relentless!"

"I know!"

"You didn't even really do anything with Draco, I was the one in the middle!"

"I know!"

"So what the fuck do you regret? Being with me!" yelled Harry.

"Stop yelling at me!"

"Answer my question!"

"I don't know!"

"How can you not know? It's not the first fucking time we've had sex, Hermione!"

"Fuck you Harry!"

Harry snorted at her response and her barely contained temper exploded as she slapped him hard across the face. "When did you become such an asshole Harry Potter?"

Furious, he clenched his jaw and fists but held his tongue.

"I'm not your fucking whore Harry, that you can do with as you please… Fuck whomever you want, bring others into bed with us and expect me to just take it," growled Hermione angrily.

"What the bloody hell are you two arguing about?" asked Ron standing in the doorway that connected his room to Hermione's.

They both ignored him and Harry said angrily, "I didn't bring anyone into bed with us, Hermione. You did that, not me. At least have the balls to admit it."

Hermione went to slap him again but he caught her arm midair and glared at her. She pulled it away angrily and said, "We're done."

"You're damn right we are."

"Get out."

"Gladly."

Ron watched horrified as Harry threw open the door and left the room, not even bothering to close it behind him and Hermione went into her bathroom and slammed the door shut. He heard her sob for only a moment before she obviously put up a privacy charm.

The next day Hermione was in a complete daze. As she sat on the train heading home she couldn't even remember taking her test. She hadn't spoken to Harry and the few times he was around her he just glared and walked away. She heard him tell Ron that he was going to sit with Daphne on the train so right now she was with Ron, Ginny and Luna.

"Hermione, are you feeling all right?" Asked Ginny concerned.

"Hmm?"

"I asked if you we're feeling all right. No offense, but you look like shit."

"Thanks Gin."

"It's probably because her aura is fractured; I noticed it last night," added Luna dreamily.

Ginny and Ron just rolled their eyes at Luna but Hermione just said, "Yeah, probably," and rested her head on the window, closing her eyes.

Once they were sure Hermione was asleep, Ron asked incredulously, "Did she just agree with Luna?"

"She did! What the hell is gong on with her Ron?" Asked Ginny horrified.

"Her and Harry had a fight last night. It was pretty bad."

"It seems like that's all they do these days," replied Ginny.

"I know, Harry just keeps fucking with her and I think she finally had enough."

"What did they fight about this time?"

"I'm not sure; I only caught the end of it when they agreed they were finished. Hermione hit him though and Harry looked about ready to kill her."

"Draco knows," said Luna out of nowhere.

"What?" asked Ron confused?

"You should talk to Draco," she said simply, before leaving the compartment.

"I swear, sometimes I don't even think she's talking to us," exclaimed Ginny.

Ron nodded in agreement then asked, "Do you think Hermione's going to snap out of this?"

"Probably not anytime soon," replied Ginny warily.

The compartment door opened and Harry came in, "Hey."

Ginny held her finger to her lips to tell him to be quiet and he noticed that Hermione was sleeping, so he nodded.

"What happened with you two, Harry?" Asked Ginny in a harsh whisper.

Harry shrugged and said, "We ended things."

"Well, from the way Hermione looks, I'm guessing it wasn't her idea," snapped Ginny angrily.

"It was mutual," replied Harry tersely.

Ginny snorted and said, "For some reason, Harry, I don't believe you. You look fine and she... doesn't."

"Well, it's the truth, Gin, whether you want to believe it or not," snapped Harry angrily.

Before Ginny could respond the compartment door opened behind Harry revealing Draco. Harry smiled at him.

"Figured I'd find you here, do you have a minute?" Asked Draco.

Harry nodded and left the compartment with Draco, not even saying goodbye to Ron and Ginny, confusing them further.

Harry entered an empty compartment and heard Draco close the door behind him and then whisper a few spells. Curious, Harry turned around just in time to see Draco slam him into the window aggressively, knocking the wind out of him. Before he had a chance to recover Draco was attacking his mouth fiercely. Harry moaned and wrapped his hands in Draco's hair kissing him back. After a few minutes they broke apart for air and Harry smirked and said, "Hello to you too."

Draco laughed and said, "Sorry, I just needed to get that out of my system."

Harry nodded and said, "I'm not complaining."

Draco moved in and started nipping at Harry's neck while talking...

"I hear you're going to be spending some time with Daphne over break."

"How'd you know that?"

"Astoria told me since I'm going to be spending time there as well."

"Oh, how come?"

"Her Father wants to finalize the betrothal agreement," said Draco moving to Harry's earlobe.

Harry groaned and pushed Draco away a little and asked, "Are you serious? We haven't even finished school yet?"

Draco shrugged and said, "Yeah, it's how these things normally are done. We'll get married after she graduates."

"What about Daphne?" Asked Harry worriedly.

Draco raised his eyebrow and said, "I was under the impression that you were seeing Daph."

"That's not what I meant! She's older; won't her Dad try and arrange something for her first?"

"I thought it was you... He said he worked it out and I assumed he had talked to you. He didn't talk to you, did he?" asked Draco warily.

"No! Are you telling me my girlfriend is going to be betrothed to someone else?" asked Harry horrified.

"It sounds that way to me, Harry."

"I'm not going to let that happen! Daph should have a say in this, not just her Father! I should have a fucking say in this for Christ's sake!" Roared Harry; causing the windows to explode out into the hallway.

They heard several girls shriek and a few brave souls came to see what happened but Draco ignored them and said, "Harry, if you feel this strongly about it you need to talk to her Father. He's the one making the decisions."

Harry nodded curtly and Draco added, "You have to give him something he wants or needs though... He's a true Slytherin."

Harry nodded again and then Draco turned and said, "Shows over!" to the crowd that had formed outside their compartment.

"What should I do?" asked Harry slightly panicked.

"Why are you asking me? Aren't Gryffindor's supposed to just charge in and save the day?"

"You're not helping, Malfoy!"

"Merlin Potter. Think. You're the fucking savior of the Wizarding World, obviously that would benefit the family to be aligned with you. You have enough money, I mean not as much as me, but still, you have enough."

"Hey! One of these days I'm going to drag you to Gringotts so we can see who really has more money!"

"After they remove your lifetime ban?" replied Draco sarcastically.

"Fuck off Malfoy!"

"Keep talking dirty to me and you'll have done it for me."

Harry just gaped at Draco in response, blushing fiercely. He shook his head and said, "Seriously, Draco, help me figure out what to do about Daphne."

"Why don't you talk to Daphne about this? Surely, she knows her Father better than I do."

"I can't. The last time we talked about this she was adamant that I end up with Hermione. She said she's known all along she was going to be married off and that it was just her fate. I don't think she would want me to interfere."

"And you're not going to listen to her?"

"No! She's **my** girlfriend! Maybe it's selfish of me, but I'm not letting someone decide she's going to marry some random bloke, even if it is her Father!"

"It's not going to be easy Potter if both Daphne and her father are working against you," sighed Draco.

"Please, Draco," begged Harry.

Draco smiled and said, "I love it when you beg."

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Are you going to help me now?"

"Yes, but what about Hermione?"

"Everything sort of fell apart yesterday. We're over. Nothing more to say," replied Harry.

Draco scrutinized him for a minute before he said, "All right, I'll help you."

The next couple hours on the train they came up with a plan to help Harry win over Daphne's Father. They also worked on a last resort plan in case the first plan failed. All in all they did a pretty good job, now they just needed to make it work…


	22. Author's Note

Author's note: I don't normally do this but I got so many negative reviews on my last chapter that I'm honestly wondering if anyone is still reading this story. Please let me know if you would like me to continue with this story because I have two other stories that I could just work on instead. I appreciate that I can't make everyone happy but I don't have a lot of free time and I would rather not waste it on a story that no one wants to ready anymore.

Please help me by telling me one of the following:

Yes (continue writing)

No (I don't want to read it anymore)

Thanks so much!


	23. Chapter 22

I do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: I want to thank everyone for their support with this fic! The consensus was overwhelmingly in favor of continuing the story. I really appreciate all the constructive criticism and I now know where I'm headed … so I hope you enjoy continuing to read this story! Please let me know what you think!

Daphne…

As the train pulled into the station, Harry prepared himself for going through with the crazy plan that he and Draco had hatched up… he just hoped Daphne wouldn't be mad at him.

"Are you sure about this Potter," asked Draco quietly standing next to Harry in line to get off the train.

Harry nodded.

"What about Hermione?"

Harry sighed and said, "Honestly, things are so bloody messed up between us right now I don't see how we're ever going to stand being in the same room as each other. I'll be happy if I can just get my best friend back."

Draco nodded and said, "You never know Potter, Hermione might change her mind and want you back. But if you do this…what we planned…and change your mind later, there will be a huge political fallout for you. Daphne's family won't take it lightly."

Harry simply nodded as they were at the exit to the platform. He held Daphne's hand as she stepped down and walked with her towards her family. She seemed pleasantly surprised but said nothing. Draco and Astoria weren't far behind them. Harry could see photographers taking pictures of him and many curious people watching him. He also noticed the confused looks on Daphne's parent's faces as they stopped in front of them. Her father was tall and built with dark hair and dark eyes, while her mother was petite with long blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Mum, Dad, this is Harry. Harry, these are my parents," said Daphne motioning with her hand.

Her mum smiled broadly and reached out to shake his hand and said, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Harry. Please call me Alice."

"You as well, Alice," replied Harry kissing the back of her hand and slightly bowing.

Daphne's dad was frowning at the scene and didn't appear to have any intention on acknowledging Harry so Alice said, "Robert, dear, isn't it nice to finally meet Harry?"

"Hm. Yes, yes. It's nice to meet you, Harry," said Daphne's father begrudgingly shaking Harry's hand before adding, "Now, if you'll excuse us, I'd like to take my daughter's home."

"Dad!" said Daphne appalled.

"Robert!" said Alice equally appalled.

Harry merely smiled and said, "I completely understand, Mr. Greengrass. We'll have more time to chat later this week anyway."

Harry saw the confused look on his face but ignored it as he turned to Daphne's Mum and said, "Mrs. Greengrass," as he bowed again to her.

Finally he turned around and nodded to Draco and Astoria, before he turned to Daphne and said, "Bye, love. I'll see you in a couple days."

She beamed at him and gave him a kiss on his cheek before he began walking away. After he had gotten half a dozen steps away from them, he turned and said loudly, "Daph, I forgot one thing, love," as he jogged back to her side.

Before she could ask what, he kissed her passionately for what seemed like a really long time. One of Harry's hands was wrapped in Daphne's long hair and the other was on her face, while Daphne's hands immediately wrapped around Harry's neck. The display screamed love and passion and it went on for enough time that all the reporters got several pictures and everyone on the platform saw.

He pulled away and said, "Sorry, I just realized I wasn't going to get to do that for a couple of days."

She blushed and nodded, unsure if she could speak.

Harry smirked and waved to her shocked parents over her head before jogging over to the waiting Weasley's, who, except for Ron and Ginny, were equally as shocked.

Draco chuckled and said, "Right, then, shall we get going before Potter comes back and shows us more of what he's not going to get to do over the next few days?"

Astoria smacked him on the arm and said, "Draco! Stop it, I think it was incredibly romantic of him to do that in front of everyone!"

"Yes, well, he certainly made it clear that he is definitely interested in you Daphne, dear," said her mother levelly, unsure if that was a good thing or not.

Daphne blushed which seemed to push her father's anger more and he growled, "Let's go."

Daphne was somewhat worried by her Dad's anger. She had told her Mum she was seeing Harry, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to him. When they finally arrived home, her father ordered her into his office ignoring her Mum's protests. She followed him somewhat nervously, looking back to Astoria before her father slammed the door shut.

"Would you care to explain to me what that was? With Harry Potter, no less!" yelled her father angrily.

"I…I...I told Mum I was dating him. I thought you knew," said Daphne quietly, looking down at the floor.

He waved his hand as if that was unimportant and yelled, "The boy clearly has feelings for you, Daphne!"

Angry, Daphne stood up and yelled back, "Why is that a bad thing? He loves me and I love him!"

She didn't have time to react, as her father swiftly backhanded her, sending her crashing to the floor several feet away. She let out a yelp of fear as it happened causing her Mum to open the door. Draco and Astoria stood in the doorway behind Daphne's Mum and saw Daphne curled up in the corner, hand to her face in shock.

Astoria ran to Daphne's side and stood between her father and Daphne, glaring accusingly at him.

Draco was quite shocked and he had to work really hard to keep his face from showing it. He had never considered that Daphne would be punished for what Harry did.

"Robert, what on earth has gotten into you?" asked Alice shocked.

"She's to be married! I've arranged a betrothal agreement with the Pucey's, they are a good pureblood family."

"What?" yelled Daphne, standing up, "What about Harry? Don't I get a say in this?"

Robert stormed over to Daphne as if he was going to hit her again but Astoria and this time Draco as well stepped in front of her.

Alice came up next to him and pulled on his arm as she begged, "Robert, please, just think about this for a minute! We're talking about Harry Potter. Do you really want to be on his bad side? The whole world is going to know tomorrow that he's in love with Daphne. Do you know the field day the press will have if you force Daphne to marry someone else? You know all that boy has to do is tell them what's going on and we'll be enemy number one! We'll be the epitome of what's wrong with pureblood wizarding society!"

He shook Alice's arm off of him before shouting, "I'm the head of this family and I decide what happens! Now get out of my office, all of you!"

Daphne was positive she had never seen her father so angry in all her life. She got up slowly, afraid to turn her back on him and made her way out of the office with her sister and Draco surrounding her. Her mother seemed to pause in the doorway until her father roared, "GET OUT!" and slammed the door.

Her mother was obviously shaken and said, "He just needs some time, dear. Try not to worry too much."

Daphne just stared at her as she slowly climbed the stairs, leaving the three teens in the entryway.

Draco quietly asked, "Astoria, where can we use the floo?"

She looked at him confused as she replied, "The library is connected to the floo."

"Can you take us there, now?"

"Sure," she replied as she led them to the library. Once inside, Draco sent off his dragon Patronus.

Before she could ask what he was doing and whom he sent it to, a giant stag Patronus was standing in front of them and said, "The Burrow."

Draco grabbed some floo powder and threw it into the fire before he said, "The Burrow," and pulled Daphne and Astoria into the fireplace with him.

They arrived in a very noisy room, filled with people but Harry immediately pulled Daphne into his embrace before pulling back to look at her. He gently turned her face and saw the handprint clearly…. As did everyone else. Before he could lose his shit, Mrs. Weasley stepped in and said, "Oh dear, let me get you something for that, so it doesn't bruise," as she pulled Daphne out of Harry's arms.

Astoria quickly followed Daphne and Mrs. Weasley out of the room as Harry turned to Draco and yelled, "What the bloody hell happened?"

Draco ran his hands through his hair and said, "Her father was bloody angry, that's what happened. He apparently arranged a betrothal with the Pucey's and didn't seem happy about you. We weren't in the room when it happened, but when we heard Daphne yelp we opened the door and saw her huddled in the corner. Poor thing looked terrified. He tried to hit her a couple of times after that but Astoria and then I stood in his way. He finally threw us all out of his office and that's when I sent you the Patronus."

Harry made a growling noise and reached for the floo powder and yelled, "What's the address!"

Draco hesitated and Mr. Weasley said, "Harry, I think it best if you calm down a bit before you try and talk to Daphne's father."

"I don't want to talk to him, I want to fucking kill him!" roared Harry, causing several things in the room to shatter.

"Harry, mate, you can't just storm in and start firing curses at him. Believe me, I'd want to do the same thing, but you need to have a better plan," said Ron logically.

Harry was momentarily speechless and Mr. Weasley took the opportunity to add, "Harry, what do you want to accomplish when you go see Mr. Greengrass?"

"What? I don't know. I mostly just want to make him pay for hurting Daphne." Said Harry quickly.

"That's understandable, but most pure-bloods treat their daughters this way, so since you most likely aren't going to be able to get him to change that, let's focus on something that can be changed."

Harry crossed his arms and huffed but said, "Like the betrothal?"

Arthur smiled and said, "Exactly, Harry. Now, I take it, you would prefer Miss Greengrass wasn't betrothed to someone else?"

"Yeah!"

"But do you want her to be betrothed to you?"

"I…I…hadn't really thought that far ahead," said Harry quietly.

"Well, he obviously has a reason for arranging the betrothal. Do we know what it is?"

"He wants Daphne to be betrothed before Astoria and since we're finishing up the details of our betrothal over break, he's knows he's running out of time," said Draco.

"Well, Harry, it may be that the only way to get Daphne out of her betrothal to the Pucey's is to replace it with another betrothal," replied Arthur.

"With me," stated Harry.

Arthur nodded and said, "But is that what you want?"

Harry sighed loudly and shrugged but said nothing else for a long time. "I don't know what I want. This time last year, I was practically dead, with only Hermione and one wand up against the world. I never really thought about what I wanted after Voldemort, because I never let myself believe that I would live to see it." Harry paused before he added, "I love Daphne. I would happily spend my life with her but…"

"But what?" asked Arthur gently?

"I was raised by Muggles…and I don't feel like I should get married for another 10 years. After school, after I train and become an Auror, after Daphne trains for whatever it is she wants to be…"

"A healer," said Daphne from the doorway smiling.

He opened his arms and she moved into his embrace quickly. "You don't have to marry me, Harry. I told you, I knew this was going to happen. I don't want you to feel like you have to save me. I'll be OK."

Seeing the pain in Harry's face, Draco said, "Harry, you could write a long engagement into the betrothal agreement."

Harry's eyes lit up at that but he said, "I don't know anything about writing betrothal agreements, there's no way I'll be able to work it to our advantage."

"I can help you," said Draco. "We can have the two be the same and then you can tweak yours for the points that matter most to you, like the long engagement."

"I could help you look it over as well, Harry. I won't know as much as Draco as far as the details go but I could certainly look it over for traps. You could also ask the Goblins to look at it for you, since you're one of their wealthiest clients," added Arthur.

"I think I'm still banned from Gringotts," replied Harry grinning.

"Bill, is this true?" asked Fleur.

"I don't think they've said one way or the other. I can ask tomorrow if you want, Harry?" replied Bill.

"Sure."

"I can probably get a name of someone that can look over the betrothal for you if you want as well," added Bill.

"That would be great, Bill, thanks," replied Harry smiling down at Daphne. "Alright, then, I guess it's settled, well except for you love. How would you like to be engaged to me for a very long time Miss Greengrass?"

She smiled at him but said, "Harry…"

"That's not the answer I was looking for, love."

"Harry, what about Hermione?"

Harry sighed and said, "We broke up, Daph; you know that. She wants nothing to do with me and I'd be surprised if she ever spoke to me again."

"Harry, she just needs time. She's confused and hurt."

"What am I supposed to do Daphne? Every time I try and fix things I just make them worse. I just don't see how we can be together, not with the way things have been between us. And I do love you. I love you so much," replied Harry sincerely.

"I love you too, Harry, believe me I do. I just want you to talk to Hermione about this before I agree. If she changes her mind, I'll step aside because I know that you love her. I know that she's always been the most important person in your life and I don't want to take that away from you," said Daphne genuinely.

"I wish I could marry you both," said Harry wistfully, kissing Daphne's forehead.

"Well, technically, you could," added Bill, causing everyone to look at him confused.

Draco was the first one to get it and said, "He's right, you could!"

"What? How is that possible?" asked Harry shocked.

"You are the last of two ancient and noble houses, Harry, the Blacks and the Potters. There are usually last of line clauses allowing for more than one wife, but even if your houses don't have that, you have to continue the line for two houses, so you would need two wives each to give birth to one son, or one wife that gave birth to two sons to continue both lines. Obviously, your chances are better with two wives," replied Bill.

"Unless you're a Weasley," added Ron jokingly making everyone laugh.

Harry grew very pale and immediately moved to sit down on the couch, causing all the males to snicker. After a minute he said, "Sorry, I just…kids are no where near on my radar right now."

"What's a radar?" asked several people making Harry roll his eyes and add, "I'm not in a place where I'm thinking about kids right now, OK?"

"That's fine, Harry. I'm not there either, love. Look, we should be getting back before my Dad notices that we're gone, but promise me you'll talk to Hermione tomorrow," asked Daphne kneeling down in front of him.

"What? You're going to go back there?" asked Harry appalled.

"Yes, I have to. Now I want you to come to my house as soon as you've talked to Hermione, alright?"

Harry frowned but nodded in agreement, "I don't want you to go back there. Promise me that if he hurts you again, you'll send me a Patronus! You know how to do that, right?"

Daphne nodded and said, "I promise, love, I'll send you a Patronus if anything happens."

Harry still reluctant looked to Draco, who nodded in agreement as well, then finally stood up and wrapped Daphne in his arms. He kissed her softly and said, "I love you, Daph."

"I love you too Harry."

Hermione…

As Harry stood in front of his parent's grave on Christmas Eve, he was at a loss for where to begin…

"Happy Christmas, Mum, Dad," said Harry settling down on a dry patch of ground near their grave.

"I don't really know where to begin, I mean, you know I survived obviously. That Voldemort is finally gone. Turns out life is just as confusing and difficult with him dead as it was when he was alive…just different."

Harry snorted and said, "I guess that's a little dramatic of me, but honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to witches. I've managed to fall for not one but two witches. Hermione, well you probably have seen her with me all these years, but she's incredible. I love her so much; I actually don't know how I didn't see it before. Problem is I've made a bloody mess of things."

"It all started with this list of things to do this year, to have fun and date around, just be teenagers, but I fell for her right away. Thing is we decided to keep dating others and that's how I fell for Daphne. She's a Greengrass, so she's a pureblood, but I won't hold it against her," smirked Harry.

"Anyway, she's beautiful and sweet and kind and I am absolutely in love with her. It just sort of snuck up on me and now I've got all these decisions that I need to make and I have no idea what to do."

Harry ran his hands through his hair and said, "Actually that's not true, I know what I'm going to do, I'm just not sure if it's going to work or not. Is it wrong of me to want the both of them? Is it selfish of me? Cause the way I see it, I've kind of earned it."

He sighed heavily and placed his head in his hands and said, "God, I sound like Malfoy."

"Anyway, I wish one of you could tell me what to do…tell me if I'm wrong and I should just choose one….but which one?"

"I mean, I know Sirius would definitely approve but Hermione was raised by Muggles, just like me and marriage is between two people, not three. I mean, just because I can, doesn't mean I should, you know?"

Harry shook his head and said, "I'm rambling…I just need to talk to Hermione first and see what she thinks. That is if she'll even see me. We had a terrible fight a few days ago and I lost my temper with her and just agreed when she said we were over. Now I'm stuck because I don't want to apologize to her because it was her bloody fault, but I want her back. So how can I get her to talk to me and take me back? How can I get her to see that the three of us might not be such a bad idea?"

Harry sighed heavily and said, "Well, I guess I won't know until I try. But what if Hermione insists that I leave Daphne…then what do I do? I don't know if I could leave her, not with what's going on with her family, not now. So is that my answer? Since I'm unwilling to give up Daphne, then that means she's the one I'm meant to be with? But Hermione would just say that it's my saving people thing…"

Harry groaned and said, "I really wish I hadn't lost the resurrection stone…course you probably wouldn't appreciate being summoned to help me deal with my pathetic love life."

As Harry stood he heard a twig snap and spun around with his wand out…he quickly lowered it when he saw Hermione.

"Hi," she said looking at him briefly before studying her boots.

"Hi," replied Harry somewhat spellbound by her. She looked as beautiful as she did this time last year. She was wrapped in a coat and scarf with a hat and mittens on, but there were a few snowflakes that had stuck to her wild hair falling down her shoulders.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude, I just felt compelled to come here tonight. I can go though," said Hermione quietly, before she started to turn back.

Harry was quickly at her side, holding on to her arm to keep her in place, "No, stay. Please," pleaded Harry.

She looked at him surprised before she nodded and moved to his parent's grave, quickly using the same charm to create the Christmas wreath of roses. When she was done she stood up and brushed her knees off before she said quietly, "Happy Christmas, Mr. and Mrs. Potter."

"Happy Christmas Hermione," replied Harry softly.

She looked at him and nodded then said, "Well, I should be getting back."

"Hermione, please, can we talk?"

Hermione sighed and said, "What else is there to talk about Harry? We're not together anymore, you made it brutally clear that's what you wanted."

Harry stuffed his anger down and said, "Please, Hermione, I was wrong. I was angry and lost my temper and just agreed with you but I do want to be with you. I do."

Hermione wiped some stray tears off her face and looked up at him hopefully before she reined her hope in and said, "But what about Daphne?"

"Just hear me out, Hermione. That's all I'm asking, please." Begged Harry.

Hermione seemed to waver and Harry said, "Please," again. She nodded and he said, "Do you want to take a walk?" holding out his arm for her to take.

She took his arm and they started to walk around Godric's Hollow…

"I want you to just listen to me, alright Hermione? Please, I've been thinking this over for days and I really just need you to hear me out completely. Can you do that?" asked Harry.

Hermione smiled slightly and said, "I can try, Harry," making him grin.


	24. Chapter 23

I do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: This is a short chapter but its also a fluffy one Enjoy the Harry/Hermione!

Harry was currently sitting in Hermione's kitchen having tea, after having just explained everything that was going on to Hermione for the second time and her Mum for the first time.

Hermione's Mum, Elizabeth, looked quite shocked and said, "So let me just make sure I understand this correctly. You two have both been acting out the list I gave Hermione, and even after you fell in love, you continued to keep dating others?"

"Yes," replied Harry and Hermione at the same time.

"Why?"

Both Harry and Hermione seemed surprised by the question so Elizabeth, or Liz as she liked to be called added, "If you were happy together, why on earth would you keep dating other people? No offense, but it doesn't make any sense."

"Mum! You were the one that told me to date other people! Told me to go be a teenager and have fun!" shrieked Hermione.

Liz looked at Hermione like she was crazy and ranted, "Yes, but I didn't tell you to forget about your common sense, Hermione! Honestly, child, I don't know what you were thinking! And now look at the mess you've gotten yourselves into! For goodness sake, Harry is in love with two girls! Which if you knew anything about dating, you would know that people usually fall in love with a few different people before getting married. But now you're in quite a bind because Harry has a saving people thing, as you call it, and this poor girl is going to be forced to marry someone else."

Hermione gaped at her mother, completely speechless.

Harry smiled at the sight, then cleared his throat and said, "Well, Mrs. Granger, do you have any advice?"

"Liz, Harry, please call me Liz."

Harry nodded and she sighed before she replied, "Perhaps, but first things first. I want you both to promise me you're done with this list I made up! It was just symbolic, Hermione, I wanted you to go be a teenager and have fun. I jotted some ideas down to give you a place to start but I didn't want you to ignore everything just to check off the bloody list! Now promise me."

When Hermione just continued to gape at her she tapped her hand on the table impatiently and said, "I'm waiting, Hermione."

"Fine, Mother, I'm done with YOUR list! Happy now?" snapped Hermione.

"Harry?" asked Liz turning to him.

"Fine by me Mrs.… Liz." Replied Harry easily.

"Good. Now on to your problems… For a second let's just forget about the situation with Daphne. Do you two still want to be together, even after all the crap it sounds like you put each other through these last couple of months?"

"Yes, I love Hermione," replied Harry quickly.

Hermione just bit her lip.

"Hermione?" asked Liz.

"I don't know. I mean, I love Harry, I do, but …"

"But what?"

"Well, no offense Harry, but you've been a bit of an arse these last couple of months," said Hermione pointedly.

Harry clenched his jaw and said, "You're right I have, but you've been somewhat difficult as well."

Hermione pursed her lips but nodded reluctantly.

"Alright, so you've both had a rough few months. Are you willing to give it another try?"

"Yes," replied Harry instantly.

Hermione didn't answer and her Mum sighed. "Hermione, close your eyes and try and think of absolutely nothing for a minute. Focus on the ticking of the clock if that helps."

Hermione looked at her Mum strangely but reluctantly did as she asked. After a minute her Mum said, "Now think about walking away from Harry right now. Cutting your losses. Finishing the school year, then going to University, getting your first job, getting married, having kids…think of all of it, without Harry."

After a minute of thinking Hermione sucked in a breath and opened her eyes.

"Well, do you want to give it another try with Harry?" asked Liz.

Hermione looked at Harry, teary eyed, and practically leaped into his lap, surprising him. She burrowed her head into his neck and Harry quickly wrapped his arms around her, sighing in relief.

"You scared me there for a minute," said Harry into her hair.

They stayed wrapped up in each other's arms for several minutes until Hermione calmed down enough to pull away from him, "I'm not ready to walk away, Harry, not yet."

He smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before he said, "Me neither, love, me neither."

Liz smiled and continued, "Alright, now that that's settled, let's try and figure out this other problem of yours. Harry, if you did the same as I asked Hermione, and pictured walking away from Daphne right now, could you do it?"

Harry closed his eyes and thought for several minutes before he opened his eyes and slowly said, "If I have to choose between the two then I choose Hermione."

He was immediately smothered in kisses from Hermione, but Liz noticed he didn't seem entirely happy. She let Hermione enjoy the happiness for a few minutes before she said, "That's good to know Harry, and I'm sure Hermione is quite happy to hear that, especially after the last couple of months but is there a way to still help Daphne with her situation? Because I'm sensing that you're not comfortable just leaving her."

Harry relaxed and said, "No, I'm not really comfortable just walking away from Daphne, I mean I do love her. But I don't know how to help her other than getting her father to agree to a betrothal with me."

Hermione tensed and her Mum asked, "Hermione, I know that you don't want to share Harry, as you've obviously been fighting about this recently, but you can't really be OK with allowing this poor girl to be married off at 17 to some random man her father picked out."

Hermione sighed and said, "I'm not! I think it's horrible but…"

"But what?" asked Liz patiently.

Hermione hesitated before she blurted out, "But I'm selfish and I don't want to share Harry!"

Liz smiled gently and said, "That's not selfish honey, it's normal. Relationships as we know them are between two people. You have nothing to make you think otherwise. But rather than think about the three of you getting married, think about the short term. Think about the right now. If Harry can get Daphne's father to agree, and to agree to a 10 year engagement like he said, then you'll have time to figure out the next steps."

She noticed that Hermione and Harry were giving her their full attention so she continued, "A lot can happen in 10 years. You could fall out of love with Harry; Daphne could fall in love with someone else and leave Harry; Harry could find out he's gay and leave you both; or you and Daphne could fall in love with each other and leave Harry."

She laughed at their looks of shock and said, "What I'm trying to make clear is that you would be buying yourselves time to figure it all out. You don't have to think of it as agreeing to get married in 10 years and sharing your husband with another woman. Think of it as getting Daphne, someone that Harry loves, out of a bad situation and leave it at that for now."

Harry looked at Hermione hopefully as she bit her lip in thought…

"But… never mind," said Hermione shaking her head.

"No, what is it?" asked Harry.

"It's stupid." Replied Hermione looking at the floor.

Harry pulled her chin up so that she was looking at him and said, "Nothing you say is stupid, Hermione. What is it?"

She thought for a moment before she tentatively said, "If you're betrothed to Daphne, then everyone will know you picked her over me and then where does that leave me? Will I be the mistress?"

Harry smiled and kissed her nose cutely before saying, "Of course not, Hermione."

"I told you it was stupid," she replied looking away.

Harry shifted and got up, placing Hermione in the chair as he knelt down in front of her. "Did you know I was going to come to your house after I visited my parents grave tonight?"

She looked at him confused and he reached into his pocket as he said, "I wanted to talk to you first, I wanted to make it clear to you that I want to be with you, Hermione. I'm not denying that I love Daphne, and who knows what will happen, but you will _**never**_ be my mistress, Hermione Granger. I hope that one-day, very far away mind you, that you will be my wife. Mrs. Potter to be exact."

Harry opened a ring box to show a large ruby stone with diamonds on either side of it, set in a gold band.

Liz gasped in shock and Harry thought he heard her call for her husband but he was solely focused on Hermione, who had her hand covering her mouth in surprise. She kept looking from him to the ring and back. He smiled lovingly at her and she suddenly launched herself into his arms, knocking them both back onto the floor. Harry laughed and wrapped his arms around her, as he asked, "Is that a yes?"

Hermione nodded fiercely and said, "Yes!" She then pushed herself up a little and looked at the ring and said, "Oh Harry, its beautiful. Will you put it on me?"

"I would love to," replied Harry sliding it on her left ring finger before pulling her in for a kiss.

"**What in the blazes is going on**?" roared Hermione's Dad standing in the kitchen doorway.


End file.
